'A 


Testimony 

of 

Dlstingulshea  Laymen 

to  the  value  of 

THE  SACRED  SCRIPTUKES 


134 


(\m  26   1958  ^ 
%JG1CALSBJ^ 

BS47a 
T54 


TESTIMONY 


OF 


JJIIi0tin9tti0l)etr  Cajimtn 


TO    THE    VALUE    OF 


'  THE  SACRED  SCRIPTURES. 


PARTICULARLY    IN    THEIR    BEARING    ON 


CIVIL  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE, 


NEW   YORK: 
AMERICAN    BIBLE   SOCIETY, 

ASTOR   PLACE. 

1853. 


cy 


PREFACE. 


While  the  people  of  our  country  are  more  generally  supplied  with  the  Bible, 
and  make  more  use  of  it,  probably,  than  the  people  of  any  other  country,  there 
are  still  many  among  us  who  treat  it  with  neglect,  and  not  a  few  who 
question  its  divine  claims.  Those  who  thus  neglect  or  trifle  with  this  book 
are,  usually,  as  is  every  where  the  case,  those  who  have  never  given  it  an 
honest  and  careful  perusal.  They  are  more  generally  young  men,  who  seem 
to  assume  that  it  is  a  book  unsuited  to  minds  in  their  condition,  and  to  be 
read,  if  read  at  all,  by  those  only  who  are  sinking  under  the  sorrows  of  a 
worn  out  hfe.  No  small  portion  of  those  who  come  to  dwell  among  us  from 
abroad  are  found  to  be  well  nigh  strangers  to  this  Sacred  Volume,  and  not  un- 
frequently  express  their  surprise  that  it  should  here  be  held  in  such  reverence 
by  many  whom  they  meet.  Far  indeed  are  all  these  from  knowing  what  this 
book  has  done  in  giving  birth  to  the  civil  and  rehgious  freedom  which  we  en- 
joy ;  and  they  have  no  conception  of  the  value  which  the  wisest  and  best  of 
our  public  men  attach  to  its  instrumentality  in  preserving  our  institutions. 

It  has  therefore  been  thought  by  the  Managers  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, that  good  would  result  to  our  favoured  land  by  collecting,  to  some  ex- 
tent, and  publishing  the  opinions,  not  of  the  clergy,  but  of  distinguished  lay- 
men, as  to  the  worth  of  the  Scriptures,  particularly  in  their  influence  on  civil 
and  social  life.  To  give  this  testimony  the  more  scope  and  weight,  it  has 
been  sought  from  the  wise  of  other  times  and  countries  as  well  as  of  our  own. 

The  testimony  thus  brought  together  is  arranged  in  the  following  order : 

I.  That  which  is  found  in  the  writings  of  men  now  deceased,  but  whose 
names  are  still  widely  known  and  respected. 

II.  That  which  is  gathered  from  the  pubHc  letters  and  addresses  of  worthy 
and  distinguished  men,  at  different  times,  Avho  are  still  living. 

III.  From  that  contained  in  letters,  which  the  Board  of  Managers  have  ob- 
tained on  special  request  for  the  present  publication. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted,  that  such  a  series  of  opinions  as  is  here  presented, 
if  carefully  pondered,  will  lead  many  a  mind  to  "  search  the  Scriptures,"  and 
see  "  whether  these  things  were  so. "  It  may  be  hoped,  too,  that  by  searching 
many  will  be  persuaded  of  the  great  truths  revealed,  and  thus  be  prepared  in 
future  to  take  part  in  the  dissemination  of  a  book  which,  beyond  all  others 
combined,  is  to  enlighten  and  save  the  race 


TESTIMONY 

OF 

DISTINGUISHED    LAYMEN 

TO 

THE   VALUE    OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 


SIR  FRANCIS  BACOK— Born  1561. 
«'  That  form  of  writing  in  divinity,  which  in  my  judgment  is 
of  all  others  most  rich  and  precious,  is  positive  divinity,  collected 
upon  particular  texts  of  Scriptures  in  brief  observations,  not  di- 
lated into  common  places ;  not  chasing  after  controversies ;  not 
reduced  into  method  of  art,  a  thing  abounding  in  sermons,  which 
will  vanish,  but  defective  in  books,  which  will  remain,  and  a 
thing  wherein  this  age  excelleth.  For  I  am  persuaded,  and  I 
may  speak  it  with  an  absit  invidia  verba,  and  no  ways  in  dero- 
gation of  antiquity,  but  as  in  good  emulation  between  the  vine 
and  the  olive,  that  if  the  choice  and  best  of  these  observations 
upon  texts  of  Scriptures  which  have  been  made  dispersedly  in 
sermons  within  the  island  of  Britain  by  the  space  of  these  forty 
years  and  more  (leaving  out  the  largeness  of  exhortations,  and 
applications  thereupon)  had  been  set  down  in  a  continuance,  it 
had  been  the  best  work  on  divinity  which  had  been  written  since 
the  Apostles'  times. 

''  Thy  creatures  have  been  my  books  ;  but  thy  Scriptures  much 
more :  I  have  sought  thee  in  the  courts,  fields,  and  gardens,  but 
I  have  found  thee  in  thy  temples. 

"  I  believe  that  the  Word  of  Grod,  whereby  his  will  is  revealed, 
continued  in  revelation  and  tradition  with  Moses ;  and  that  the 
Scriptures  were  from  Moses'  time  to  the  time  of  the  Apostles 
and  Evangelists ;  in  whose  ages,  after  the  coming  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  book  of  Scripture  was  shut  and  closed,  so  as  not  to 
receive  any  new  addition,  and  that  the  church  hath  no  power 
after  the  Scriptures  to  teach  and  command  any  thing  contrary  to 
the  written  Word." 


6  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

HUGO  GROTIUS.— Born  in  Holland  ]583. 
''"VVe  say,  then,  that  the  writings,  about  which  there  is  no  dis- 
pute amongst  Christians,  and  which  have  any  particular  person's 
name  affixed  to  them,  are  that  author's  whose  title  they  are 
marked  with ;  because  the  first  writers,  such  as  Justin,  Irenfeus, 
Clemens,  and  others  after  them,  quote  those  books  under  those 
names  ;  and  besides,  Tertullian  says  that  in  his  time  some  of  the 
original  copies  of  those  books  were  extant. 

"  Neither  did  any  Heathens  or  Jews  raise  any  controversy,  as 
if  they  were  not  the  works  of  those  whose  they  were  said  to  be. 
And  Julian  openly  confesses,  that  those  were  Peter's,  Paul's, 
Matthew's,  Mark's,  and  Luke's,  which  were  read  by  the  Christians 
under  those  names.  Nobody  in  his  senses  makes  any  doubt  of 
Homer's  or  Yirgil's  works  being  theirs,  by  reason  of  the  constant 
testimony  of  the  G-reeks  concerning  the  one,  and  of  the  Latins 
concerning  the  other  ;  how  much  more,  then,  ought  we  to  stand 
by  the  testimony  of  almost  all  the  nations  in  the  world  for  the 
authors  of  these  books  ? 

"  But  since  Clod  has  been  pleased  to  leave  us  the  records  of  the 
Jewish  religion,  which  was  true  of  old,  and  affords  no  small  testi- 
mony to  the  Christian  religion,  it  is  not  foreign  to  our  purpose  to 
see  upon  what  foundation  the  credibility  of  these  is  built.  That 
these  books  are  theirs  to  whom  they  are  ascribed,  appears  in  the 
same  manner  as  we  have  proved  of  our  books ;  and  they  whose 
names  they  bear  were  either  prophets  or  men  worthy  to  be  cred- 
ited; such  as  Esdras,  who  is  supposed  to  have  collected  them 
into  one  volume,  at  that  time  when  the  prophets  Haggai,  Mala- 
chi,  and  Zacharias  were  yet  alive. 

"  But  there  is  no  reason  for  us  Christians  to  doubt  of  the  cred- 
ibility of  these  books,  because  there  are  testimonies  in  our  books, 
out  of  almost  every  one  of  them,  the  same  as  they  are  found  in 
the  Hebrew.  Nor  did  Christ,  when  he  reproved  many  things  in 
the  teachers  of  the  Law,  and  in  the  Pharisees  of  his  time,  ever 
accuse  them  of  falsifying  the  books  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  or 
of  using  supposititious  or  altered  books. 

"  And  it  can  never  be  proved,  or  made  credible,  that  after 
Christ's  time  the  Scripture  should  be  corrupted  in  any  thing  of 
moment,  if  we  do  but  consider  how  far  and  wide  the  Jewish  na- 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        V 

tion,  who  every  where  kept  these  books,  was  dispersed  over  the 
whole  world." 


SIR  MATTHEW  HALE.— Born  1600. 

From  Letters  to  his  Children. 

"Every  morning  read  seriously  and  reverently  a  portion  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  acquaint  yourselves  with  the  history  and 
doctrine  thereof.  It  is  a  book  full  of  light  and  wisdom,  will  make 
you  wise  to  eternal  life,  and  furnish  you  with  directions  and  prin- 
ciples to  guide  and  order  your  life  safely  and  prudently. 

"  There  is  no  book  like  the  Bible  for  excellent  learning,  wis- 
dom, and  use." 


JOHN  MILTON".— Born  1608. 

"  God  having  to  this  end  ordained  his  G-ospel  to  be  the  revela- 
tion of  his  power  and  wisdom  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  this  is  one 
depth  of  his  wisdom,  that  He  could  so  plainly  reveal  so  great  a 
measure  of  it  to  the  gross,  distorted  apprehension  of  decayed  man- 
kind. Let  others,  therefore,  dread  and  shun  the  Scriptures  for 
their  darkness  ;  I  shall  wish  I  may  deserve  to  be  reekoned  among 
those  who  admire  and  dwell  upon  them  for  their  clearness. 

"  True  religion  is  the  true  worship  and  service  of  God,  learnt 
and  believed  from  the  "Word  of  God  only.  No  man  or  angel  can 
know  how  God  would  be  worshipped  and  served,  unless  God 
reveal  it ;  he  hath  revealed  and  taught  it  us  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tLires  by  inspired  ministers,  and  in  the  Gospel  by  his  own  Son,  and 
his  Apostles,  with  strictest  command  to  reject  all  other  tradi- 
tions or  additions  whatsoever.  According  to  that  of  St.  Paul, 
*  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel 
unto  you,  than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him 
be  anathema,  or  accursed.'  And,  Deut.  4 :  2,  'Ye  shall  not  add 
to  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither  shall  ye  diminish 
aught  from  it.'  Rev.  22  :  18,  19,  '  If  any  man  shall  add,'  &c. 
'  If  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words,'  &c.  "With  good 
and  religious  reason  therefore,  all  Protestant  churches,  with  one 
consent,  and  particularly  the  Church  of  England  in  her  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  art.  6,  19,  20,  and  21,  and  elsewhere,  maintain 
these  two  points,  as  the  main  principles  of  true  religion  ;  that  the 


8  Testimony    of    Distinguishsd    Laymen 

rule  of  true  religion  is  the  Word  of  God  only ;  and  that  their  faith 
ought  not  to  be  an  implicit  faith,  that  is,  to  believe,  though  as  the 
church  believes,  against  or  without  express  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture." 


JOHN  LOCKE.— Born  1632, 

*'  That  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  one  of  the  greatest  blessings 
^Yhich  Grod  bestows  upon  the  sons  of  men,  is  generally  acknowl- 
edged by  all  who  know  any  thing  of  the  value  and  worth  of  them. 
In  them  the  Lord  hath  dilucidly  displayed  that  counsel  of  his  will 
that  is  of  infinite  concernment  to  us  to  understand,  in  order  to 
our  present  being  accepted  of  him  here,  and  at  last  brought  to 
the  fullest  enjoyment  of  himself  in  glory.  'Tis  wonderful  to 
behold,  how  full  and  perfect  this  world  is,  with  respect  to  this 
end:  what  can  man  desire  to  know,  which  is  necessary  hereunto, 
that  the  light  thereof  discovers  not?  What  direction  can  he 
expect,  by  which  he  may  be  fortified  against  all  enemies  of  his 
good,  either  within  or  without  him,  that  is  not  there  given? 
What  encouragements  would  he  have,  which  are  not  therein  dis- 
played before  him  ?  And  what  cavils  can  be  brought  against  any 
part  of  truth  contained  therein,  to  which  they  themselves  yield 
not  a  full  resolve,  one  place  of  Scripture  so  exactly  clearing,  ex- 
pounding, and  illustrating  another  ?  Yet,  to  amazement,  it  is 
observed,  that  man,  who  is  so  highly  and  principally  concerned  in 
it,  doth  too  little  value  it :  he  can  weary  himself  in  any  secular 
affair,  but  diligently  to  search  the  Scriptures  according  to  our 
Lord's  advice,  is  to  him  tedious  and  burdensome." 


SIR  ISAAC  NEWTOK— Born  1642. 

"We  account  the  Scriptures  of  G-od  to  be  the  most  sublime 
philosophy. 

"  I  find  more  sure  marks  of  authenticity  in  the  Bible  than  in 
any  profane  history  whatever." 


WILLIAM  PENK— Born  in  London  in  1644. 
"Nor  would   we  be  thought  to  lessen  the  virtue,  use,  and 
reputation   of  the   Holy    Scriptures,   whilst  we   endeavour   the 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        9 

vindication  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  office  of  revelation  to  be- 
lievers. 

*'  They  are  useful  in  two  eminent  respects : 

"  1st.  Historically;  as  giving  us  a  true  narrative  of  the  trans- 
actions of  those  ages  of  the  world,  in  reference  to  the  church  or 
state  of  both  Jews  and  Christians ;  their  trials,  troubles,  tempta- 
tions, lapses,  recoveries,  and  perfect  victories. 

"2d.  Doctrinally;  as  presenting  us  with  a  true  account  of  the 
principles  and  doctrines  of  the  people  of  Grod  ;  their  holy  faith  and 
patience  :  I  cannot  phrase  it  better  than  a  divine  glass  in  which 
we  see  (I  say,  we  see,  who  first  have  that  heavenly  organ,  an  eye 
opened  by  inspiration  and  revelation)  the  states  and  conditions  of 
the  primitive  saints,  which  is  matter  of  unspeakable  comfort  and 
confirmation,  as  w^ell  as  of  good  example  to  us. 

"  I  do  declare  to  the  whole  world,  that  we  believe  the  Scrip- 
tures to  contain  a  declaration  of  the  mind  and  will  of  God  in 
and  to  those  ages  in  which  they  were  written ;  being  given  forth 
by  the  Holy  Grhost,  moving  in  the  hearts  of  holy  men  of  G-od ; 
that  they  ought  also  to  be  read,  believed,  and  fulfilled  in  our 
day;  being  useful  for  reproof  and  instruction,  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect. 

"  They  are  a  declaration  and  testimony  of  heavenly  things,  but 
not  the  heavenly  things  themselves  ;  and,  as  such,  we  carry  an 
high  respect  unto  them.  "We  accept  them  as  the  words  of  God 
himself;  and,  by  the  assistance  of  his  Spirit,  they  are  read  with 
great  instruction  and  comfort." 


JOSEPH  ADDISOK— BoRX  16*72. 

"  The  Scriptures  are  full  of  pathetical  and  warm  pictures  of  the 
condition  of  an  happy  or  miserable  futurity ;  and  I  am  confident, 
that  the  frequent  reading  of  them  would  make  the  way  to  an 
happy  eternity  so  agreeable  and  pleasant,  that  he  who  tries  it 
will  find  the  difficulties  which  he  before  suffered  in  shunning  the 
allurements  of  vice,  absorbed  in  pleasure  he  will  take  in  the  pur- 
suit of  virtue ;  and  how  happy  must  that  mortal  be,  who  thinks 
himself  in  the  favour  of  an  Almighty,  and  can  think  of  death  as 
a  thing  which  it  is  an  infirmity  not  to  desire." 


10  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

SIR  WILLIAM  JOI^ES.— Born  1748. 

"  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  adding,  that  the  collection  of  tracts, 
which  we  call,  from  their  excellence,  the  Scriptures,  contain,  in- 
dependently of  a  divine  origin,  more  true  sublimity,  more  exquis- 
ite beauty,  more  pure  morality,  more  important  history,  and 
finer  strains  both  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  than  could  be  collected 
from  all  other  books  that  were  ever  composed  in  any  age  or  in 
any  idiom.  The  two  parts  of  which  the  Scriptures  consist  are 
connected  by  a  chain  of  compositions,  which  bear  no  resemblance, 
in  form  of  style,  to  any  that  can  be  produced  from  the  stores  of 
Grecian,  Indian,  Persian,  or  even  Arabian  learning;  the  antiquity 
of  those  compositions,  no  man  doubts ;  and  the  unrestrained  ap- 
plication of  them  to  events  long  subsequent  to  their  publication 
is  a  solid  ground  of  belief  that  they  were  genuine  productions,  and 
consequently  inspired." 


THOMAS  LORD  ERSKINE.— Born  1750. 
"  I  have  been  ever  deeply  devoted  to  the  truths  of  Christianity  ; 
and  my  firm  belief  in  the  Holy  G-ospel  is  by  no  means  owing  to 
the  prejudices  of  education  (though  I  was  religiously  educated 
by  the  best  of  parents),  but  it  arises  from  the  most  continued 
reflections  of  my  riper  years  and  understanding.  It  forms,  at 
this  moment,  the  great  consolation  of  a  life,  which,  as  a  shadow, 
must  pass  away ;  and  without  it,  indeed,  I  should  consider  my 
long  course  of  health  and  prosperity  (perhaps  too  long  and  too 
uninterrupted  to  be  good  for  any  man)  only  as  the  dust  which 
the  wind  scatters,  rather  as  a  snare  than  as  a  blessing." 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON". 

Extracts  from  Circular  Letter  to  the  several  States  upon  disbanding  the  Army,  June  8,  1783. 

''  The  free  cultivation  of  letters,  the  unbounded  extension  of 
commerce,  the  progressive  refinement  of  manners,  the  growing 
liberality  of  sentiment,  and,  above  all,  the  pure  and  benign  light 
of  Revelation,  have  had  a  meliorating  influence  on  mankind,  and 
increased  the  blessings  of  society. 

"  I  now  malve  my  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  have  you,  and 


To    THE    Value    of    the    Scriptures.  11 

the  State  over  ^Yhich  you  preside,  under  his  holy  protection ;  that 
He  would  incline  the  hearts  of  the  citizens  to  cultivate  the  spirit 
of  subordination  and  obedience  to  government;  to  entertain  a 
brotherly  affection  and  love  for  one  another,  for  their  fellow  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  at  large,  and  particularly  for  their 
brethren  who  have  served  in  the  field ;  and,  finally,  that  He  would 
be  most  graciously  pleased  to  dispose  us  all  to  do  justice,  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  demean  ourselves  with  that  charity,  humility,  and 
pacific  temper  of  mind,  which  were  the  characteristics  of  the 
Divine  Author  of  our  blessed  religion,  and  without  an  humble 
imitation  of  whose  example  in  these  things  ive  can  never  hope  to 
be  a  happy  nation.'''' 

Farewell  Address  to  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Sept.  17,  1796. 

'•Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  pros- 
perity, religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In 
vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism,  who  should 
labour  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these 
firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  The  mere  poli- 
tician, equally  with  the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish 
them.  A  volume  could  not  trace  all  their  connexion  with  private 
and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked.  Where  is  the  secu- 
rity for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious 
obligation  desert  the  oaths  which  are  tlie  instruments  of  inves- 
tigation in  courts  of  justice  ?  And  let  us  with  caution  indulge 
the  supposition  that  morality  can  be  sustained  without  religion. 
Whatever  may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  education 
on  minds  of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid 
us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of 
religious  principle." 


HOX.  JOHN  JAY. 

From  an  Address  while  President  of  the  American  Bible  Society  in  1834. 

<'We  have  the  satisfaction  of  again  observing,  that  by  the 
blessing  of  Providence  on  the  zeal  of  our  fellow  citizens,  and  on 
the  fidelity,  diligence,  and  prudence  with  which  our  affairs  are 
conducted,  they  continue  in  a  state  of  progressive  improvement. 
The  pleasure  we  derive  from  it  is  not  a  little  increased  by  the 


12  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

consideration  that  we  are  transmitting  essential  benefits  to  mul- 
titudes in  various  regions ;  and  that  the  value  and  important 
consequences  of  these  benefits  extend  and  will  endure  beyond  the 
limits  of  time.  By  so  doing  we  render  obedience  to  the  com- 
mandment by  which  He  who  '  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men,'  and  established  a  fraternal  relation  between  the  individuals 
of  the  human  race,  hath  made  it  their  duty  to  love  and  be  kind  to 
one  another. 

"We  know  that  a  great  proportion  of  mankind  are  ignorant 
of  the  revealed  will  of  Grod,  and  that  they  have  strong  claims  to 
the  sympathy  and  compassion  which  we,  who  are  favoured  with 
it,  feel,  and  are  manifesting  for  them.  To  the  most  sagacious 
among  the  heathen,  it  must  appear  wonderful  and  inexplicable 
that  such  a  vicious,  suffering  being  as  man  should  have  proceeded 
in  such  a  condition  from  the  hands  of  his  Creator. 

''  Having  obscure  and  confused  ideas  of  a  future  state,  and 
unable  to  ascertain  how  far  justice  may  yield  to  mercy,  or  mercy 
to  justice,  they  live  and  die  (as  our  heathen  ancestors  did)  in- 
volved in  darkness  and  perplexities. 

"  By  conveying  the  Bible  to  people  thus  circumstanced,  we 
certainly  do  them  a  most  interesting  act  of  kindness.  We  thereby 
enable  them  to  learn  that  man  was  originally  created  and  placed 
in  a  state  of  happiness,  but  becoming  disobedient,  was  subjected  to 
the  degradation  and  evils  which  he  and  his  posterity  have  since 
experienced.  The  Bible  will  also  inform  them  that  our  gi*acious 
Creator  has  provided  for  us  a  Redeemer,  in  whom  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  ;  that  this  Redeemer  has  made 
atonement  '  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,'  and  thereby  recon- 
ciling the  divine  justice  with  the  Divine  mercy,  has  opened  a  way 
for  our  redemption  and  salvation;  and  that  these  inestimable 
benefits  are  of  the  free  gift  and  grace  of  Grod,  not  of  our  deserving, 
nor  in  our  power  to  deserve. 

"  The  Bible  will  also  animate  them  with  many  explicit  and 
consoling  assurances  of  the  Divine  mercy  to  our  fallen  race,  and 
with  repeated  invitations  to  accept  the  offers  of  pardon  and  recon- 
ciliation. The  truth  of  these  facts  and  the  sincerity  of  these  as- 
surances being  unquestionable,  they  cannot  fail  to  promote  the 
happiness  of  those  by  whom  they  are  gratefully  received,  and  of 
those  by  whom  they  are  benevolently  communicated." 


To    THE    Value    op   the    Scriptures.  13 


HON.  DE  WITT  CLl^'TOJ^. 

In  taking  the  Chair  as  a  Vice  President  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

"  The  inefficiency  of  human  laws  for  their  intended  objects  is 
palpable  from  the  daily  operations  of  society,  and  the  accumu- 
lated experience  of  ages.  Secret  crimes  are  of  course  unpunish- 
ed ;  and  how  many  of  the  guilty  escape  from  the  want  of  testi- 
mony, from  casualties,  and  from  the  imperfect  or  perverse  dis- 
pensation of  justice  and  mercy  ?  And  there  are  many  aberra- 
tions from  virtue,  which  do  not  come  within  the  cognizance  or  the 
policy  of  human  legislation.  Violations  of  what  are  termed  the 
duties  of  imperfect  obligation  answer  to  this  description. '  In- 
gratitude, infidelity  in  friendship,  the  want  of  charity,  an  in- 
fraction of  hospitality,  are  not  punished  by  the  tribunals  of  men. 
And  deeds  of  the  most  dangerous  character,  which  strike  at  the 
very  foundation  of  private  happiness  and  public  prosperity,  are 
sometimes  not  considered  criminal.  Lying  and  adultery,  for  in- 
stance, escape  with  impunity. 

''  The  efficacy  of  the  law  of  opinion  is  also  limited,  and  has 
all  the  imperfections  attached  to  humanity.  It  cannot  reach 
those  who  are  hardened  in  infamy  and  plunged  in  iniquity  ;  and 
its  sanctions  do  not  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  this  world.  Hy- 
pocrisy braves  its  denunciations ;  and  exalted  rank  and  great 
opulence  feel,  in  some  degree,  superior  to  its  terrors. 

*'  The  sanctions  of  the  Divine  law  supply  all  these  deficiencies  ; 
cover  the  whole  area  of  human  action,  reach  every  case,  punish 
every  sin,  and  recompense  every  virtue.  Its  rewards  and  its 
punishments  are  graduated  with  perfect  justice ;  and  its  appeals 
to  the  hopes  and  fears  of  man  are  of  the  most  potent  character 
and  transcendent  influence. 

''  The  codes  of  men  and  the  laws  of  opinion  derive  a  great 
portion  of  their  weight  from  the  influence  of  a  future  world. 
Justice  cannot  be  administered  without  the  sanctity  of  truth; 
and  the  great  security  against  perjury  is  the  amenability  of 
another  state.  The  sanctions  of  religion  compose  the  founda- 
tions of  good  government ;  and  the  ethics,  doctrines,  and  exam- 
ples furnished  by  Christianity  exhibit  the  best  models  for  the 
laws  of  opinion." 


14  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

DYING  WORDS  OF  WILBERFORCE. 
'^  Read  the  Bible — read  the  Bible  !  Let  no  religious  book  take 
its  place.  Through  all  my  perplexities  and  distresses  I  never 
read  any  other  book,  and  1  never  felt  the  want  of  any  other.  It 
has  been  my  hourly  study ;  and  all  my  knowledge  of  the  doc- 
trines, and  all  my  acquaintance  with  the  experience  and  realities 
of  religion,  have  been  derived  from  the  Bible  only.  I  think  reli- 
gious people  do  not  read  the  Bible  enough.  Books  abou^  religion 
may  be  useful  enough,  but  they  will  not  do  instead  of  the  simple 
truth  of  the  Bible." 


HOK  JOHN  COTTON  SMITH. 

In  an  Address  before  the  American  Bible  Society. 

"  Would  that  a  history  of  the  American  Revolution  could  have 
been  written  by  one  who,  like  Xenophon,  was  a  distinguished 
actor  in  the  scenes  described,  and  who,  imbued  with  the  right 
spirit,  could  illustrate  by  appropriate  facts  the  influence  which 
animated  and  upheld  the  agents  in  that  mighty  struggle!  In 
such  a  work,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  present  and  future  generations 
would  perceive  the  fruits  of  early  Biblical  instruction,  and  learn 
the  value  of  the  Bible  in  the  day  of  adversity.  They  would  see 
the  effect  of  a  mother's  early  faithfulness  to  the  immortal  Wash- 
ington, who  suffered  not  a  day  to  pass  over  him  without  consult- 
ing his  Bible.  They  would  behold,  in  an  American  Congress, 
fully  exemplified,  the  union  of  humble  piety  with  exalted  patriot- 
ism ;  a  body  on  whom  the  whole  conduct  of  the  war  was  devolv- 
ed, but  who  nevertheless  could  anxiously  deliberate  on  the  means 
of  obtaining  from  abroad  (such  was  their  estimate  of  its  worth) 
copies  of  the  Sacred  Volume  for  their  destitute  and  imploring 
fellow  citizens  ;  in  short,  they  would  perceive  not  only  the  gallant 
bearing  of  a  patriot  army,  but  their  patient  endurance  under  un- 
paralleled privations,  and  the  invincible  spirit  displayed  by  all 
classes  of  a  suffering  people  plainly  ascribable  in  no  moderate 
degree  to  an  early  and  deeply  impressed  acquaintance  with  the 
Bible,  through  the  medium  of  maternal  faithfulness  and  the  com- 
mon school.  And,  my  respected  hearers,  if  we  would  long  pre- 
serve the  inestimable  boon  thus  acquired,  we  must  recur  to  the 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        15 

well  tried  expedient  by  which  it  was  gained.  We  must  restore 
the  Bible  to  the  schools.  Who  can  tell  how  much  of  the  delin- 
quency which  stains  our  judicial  records  may  be  attributed  to 
ignorance  of  its  divine  precepts  and  sanctions  ?  Who  can  esti- 
mate the  number  of  thoughtless  parents— a  number  fearfully 
increased  by  the  exclusion  already  mentioned — who  neglect,  or 
refuse  to  impress  upon  their  children,  the  duty  of  attentively 
reading  the  Bible,  even  when  it  may  have  been  presented  to  such 
parents  by  this  Society?  But  establish  it  as  an  exercise  in  the 
common  schools,  and  you  make  every  child  and  youth  in  the 
republic  acquainted,  of  course,  with  a  book  which  of  all  others  it 
behooves  them  to  know — a  book  whose  divine  origin,  if  there  were 
no  other  proof,  is  demonstrated  by  its  perfect  adaptation  to  every 
capacity,  the  humblest  and  the  highest  ;  to  the  condition  of  man 
through  every  stage  and  vicissitude  of  his  earthly  existence  as 
well  as  to  his  immortal  destiny.  Who  can  withhold  such  a  book 
from  the  children  of  our  country,  and  be  blameless?" 


BARON  DE  STAEL. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Baron  de  Stael,  (Son  of  the  celebrated  Madame  de  Stael,)  Secretary  of  a  Bible  So- 
ciety in  Paris,  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  in  1822. 

^'/It  is  a  grand  subject  for  meditation,  to  behold  in  our  modern 
societies  the  love  of  the  holy  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  advancing 
with  the  progress  of  philosophy  and  of  political  institutions,  so 
that  the  nations  which  are  most  advanced  in  civilization  and  in 
liberty,  are  also  the  most  religious,  the  most  truly  Christian. 

"  It  appears  that  Providence  has  reserved  this  blessing  for  our 
age,  and  that  the  Bible  Societies  are  the  instruments  by  which 
it  is  to  be  accomplished.  How  consoling,  then,  it  is  to  be- 
hold your  country,  this  classic  land  of  reason  and  liberty,  embra- 
cing the  cause  of  the  Gospel  with  so  much  zeal  and  success. 
And  what  salutary  influence  will  not  the  authority  of  your  ex- 
ample have  on  those,  whom  a  narrow  philosophy  or  a  false  shame 
has  hitherto  kept  at  a  distance  from  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  constrain  ourselves  to  walk  in  your  footsteps ;  and  although 
our  Bible  Societies  are  not  as  numerous  and  active  as  they  might 
be,  and  ought  to  be,  we  have  every  reason  to  thank  God  for  the 
good  which  they  begin  already  to  produce." 


16  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

ADMIRAL  COUNT  VER  HUELL,  OF  FRANCE. 

From  an  Address  before  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 

"  I  consider  Biblical  institutions  as  real  promoters  of  that  light 
before  which  all  the  erroneous  principles  of  false  philosophy  will 
disappear ;  and  I  cannot  but  hope,  that  ere  long  all  the  govern- 
ments of  the  civilized  world  will  find  it  to  their  interest  to 
protect  institutions,  whose  fundamental  principle  is  the  love  of 
peace,  tranquillity,  and  order. 

*'  Your  sublime  institution  has  rendered  the  greatest  service  in 
reviving  the  sacred  love  of  religion,  and  distributing  so  liberally 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  which  multitudes  were  deprived. 

''Religion,  like  a  tree  often  beaten  by  the  storm,  may  lose  its 
branches,  but  cannot  be  rooted  up.  Exposed  to  the  seasons  and 
the  tempest,  it  offers  to  admiring  spectators  a  great  example, 
that  wherever  the  providence  of  God  has  struck  deep  its  roots,  it 
preserves  its  life  and  vigour,  in  spite  of  the  power  and  the  multi- 
plicity of  those  events  which  seemed  to  menace  it  with  destruc- 
tion." 


HON.  SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD. 

From  an  Address  before  a  Literary  Society  of  Nassau  Hall. 

"  Of  all  men,  American  scholars  ought  not  to  be  ignorant  of 
any  thing  which  the  Bible  contains.  If  Cicero  could  declare  that 
the  laws  of  the  twelve  tables  were  worth  all  the  libraries  of  the 
philosophers  ;  if  they  were  the  carmen  necessarium  of  the  Roman 
youth,  how  laboriously  ought  you  to  investigate  its  contents, 
and  inscribe  them  upon  your  hearts.  You  owe  to  them  the  bless- 
ed civil  institutions  under  which  you  live,  and  the  glorious  free- 
dom which  you  enjoy;  and.  if  these  are  to  be  perpetuated,  it  can 
only  be  by  a  regard  to  those  principles.  Civil  and  religious 
liberty  is  more  indebted  to  Luther  and  Calvin,  and  their  com- 
peers of  the  Reformation,  and  to  the  Puritans  and  Protestants  of 
England,  and  the  Huguenots  of  France,  than  to  any  other  men 
who  ever  lived  in  the  annals  of  time.  They  led  the  way  to  that 
freedom,  and  firmness,  and  independence  of  thought  and  investi- 
gation, and  the  adoption  of  these  principles  as  the  guide  in  social 
government  as  well  as  private  actions,  which  created  a  personal 
self  respect  and  firmness  in  its  defence,  which  conducted  us  to  a 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        17 

sense  of  equal  rights  and  privileges,  and  eventually  to  the  adop- 
tion of  free  written  constitutions  as  the  limitations  of  power.  Be 
you  imitators  of  them.  Make  your  scholarship  subservient  to 
the  support  of  the  same  unchanging  principles.  They  are  as  ne- 
cessary now  as  they  ever  were,  to  the  salvation  of  your  country, 
and  all  that  is  dear  to  your  hopes.  Religion  and  liberty  must  go 
hand  in  hand,  or  America  cannot  be  established.  Even  here  we 
are  not  without  peril.  Look  abroad ;  are  not  the  pillars  of  our 
edifice  shaken?  Is  not  law  disregarded?  Are  not  moral  and 
social  principles  weakened  ?  Are  not  the  wretched  advocates  of 
infidelity  busy  ?  The  sun  has  indeed  risen  upon  our  mountain 
tops,  but  it  has  not  yet  scattered  the  damps  and  the  darkness  of 
the  valleys.  The  passions  are  roused  and  misled.  Ancient  in- 
stitutions are  scorned.  Our  refuge  is  in  the  firm  purpose  of  edu- 
cated and  moral  men.  Draw,  then,  your  rules  of  action  from  the 
only  safe  authority.  Having  your  banner  on  the  outer  wall, 
stand  by  them  in  trial  and  in  triumph.  Dare  to  maintain  them 
in  every  position  and  in  every  vicissitude ;  and  make  your  appeal 
to  the  source  from  which  they  are  drawn.  And  then,  come  what 
may,  contempt  or  fame,  you  cannot  fall ;  and  your  progress  at 
every  step  will  be  greeted  by  the  benedictions  of  the  wise  and  the 
good." 


HON.  WILLIAM  WIRT. 

In  1838,  he  was  invited  to  address  a  meeting  in  New  York,  whose  desisn  was  to  increase  the  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures  tlirousrhout  tlie  world.  Not  being  able  to  accept  the  invitation,  he  sent  a  letter  in 
place,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  I  regret  that  my  time  is  not  more  at  my  command,  that  I 
might  evince  the  interest  I  feel  in  the  Bible  Cause,  by  something 
of  more  account  than  mere  profession.  It  is  delightful  to  witness 
the  exertions  that  are  now  making  by  the  Christian  world  to  dis- 
pel the  night  of  ignorance  that  yet  obscures  so  large  a  portion 
of  this  planet,  and  to  supply  its  place  by  the  light  of  the  cross. 
The  manifestations  of  Divine  support  are  well  fitted  to  awaken 
all  our  energies,  and  excite  us  to  higher  efforts  than  have  ever 
yet  been  made.  Even  if  we  should  not  succeed  to  the  full 
extent  of  our  hopes  and  wishes,  we  shall  make  such  an  impres- 
sion as  shall  shake  the  heathen  world,  and  prepare  the  way  for 
a  complete  victory  by  those  who  are  to  follow  us.     Nay,  even  if 


18  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

we  fail,  we  fail  in  a  great  attempt ;  and  the  grandeur  and  philan- 
thropy of  the  enterprise  must  be  reward  enough  for  all  our  ex- 
ertions. But  we  shall  not  fail.  There  is  a  God  who  looks  down 
upon  us,  and  witnesses  our  efforts,  and  a  Saviour  who  approves, 
and  will  sustain  us  by  his  intercession.  The  cause  is  good,  the 
hearts  that  support  it  are  true  and  good,  and  the  God  who  up- 
holds it  is  almighty.  Let  us  go  on,  then,  with  courage  and  con- 
stancy, nothing  doubting,  and  the  Red  Sea  will  open  before  us, 
the  rock  of  the  desert  will  pour  forth  its  stream,  and  the  eastern 
wilderness  will  once  more  bud  and  blossom  like  the  rose." 


CHANCELLOR  KENT. 

In  an  Address  before  the  American  Bible  Society. 

''  The  Bible  is  equally  adapted  to  the  wants  and  infirmities  of 
every  human  being.  It  is  the  vehicle  of  the  most  awful  truths, 
and  which  are  at  the  same  time  of  universal  application,  and 
accompanied  by  the  most  efficacious  sanctions.  No  other  book 
ever  addressed  itself  so  authoritatively  and  so  pathetically  to  the 
judgment  and  moral  sense  of  mankind.  It  contains  the  most 
sublime  and  fearful  displays  of  the  attributes  of  that  perfect 
Being  who  inhabiteth  eternity,  and  pervades  and  governs  the 
universe.  It  brings  life  and  immortality  to  light,  which,  until 
the  publication  of  the  Gospel,  were  hidden  from  the  scrutiny  of 
ages.  This  gracious  revelation  of  a  future  state  is  calculated  to 
solve  the  mysteries  of  Providence  in  the  dispensations  of  this  life. 
to  reconcile  us  to  the  inequalities  of  our  present  condition,  and  to 
inspire  unconquerable  fortitude  and  the  most  animating  consola- 
tion when  all  other  consolations  fail ;  in  the  midst  of  the  abodes 
of  age,  disease,  and  sorrow,  and  under  the  pressure  of  the  sharp- 
est pangs  of  human  misery.  The  Bible  also  unfolds  the  origin 
and  the  deep  foundations  of  depravity  and  guilt,  and  the  means 
and  the  hopes  of  salvation  through  the  mediation  of  the  Redeemer. 
Its  doctrines,  its  discoveries,  its  code  of  morals,  and  its  means  of 
grace,  are  not  only  overwhelming  evidence  of  its  divine  origin, 
but  they  confound  the  pretensions  of  all  other  systems,  by  show- 
ing the  narrow  range  and  the  feeble  efforts  of  human  reason,  even 
when  under  the  sway  of  the  most  exalted  understanding,  and  en- 
lightened by  the  accumulated  treasures  of  science  and  learning. 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        19 

"  The  Scriptures,  resplendent  with  these  truths,  we  have  good 
grounds  to  believe,  are  to  be  eventually  brought  home  to  the 
knowledge  and  acceptance  of  every  people,  and  to  carry  with 
them  the  inestimable  blessings  of  peace,  humanity,  purity,  and 
happiness  over  every  part  of  the  habitable  globe. 

''  The  general  diffusion  of  the  Bible  is  the  most  effectual  way 
to  civilize  and  humanize  mankind ;  to  purify  and  exalt  the  gen- 
eral system  of  public  morals  ;  to  give  efficacy  to  the  just  precepts 
of  international  and  municipal  law  ;  to  enforce  the  observance  of 
prudence,  temperance,  justice,  and  fortitude,  and  to  improve  all 
the  relations  of  social  and  domestic  life. 

''  Human  laws  labour  under  many  other  great  imperfections. 
They  extend  to  external  actions  only.  They  cannot  reach  that 
catalogue  of  secret  crimes  which  are  committed  without  any 
witness,  save  the  all-seeing  eye  of  that  Being,  whose  presence  is 
every  where,  and  whose  laws  reach  the  hidden  recesses  of  vice, 
and  carry  their  sanctions  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 
In  this  view,  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  supply  all  the  deficiencies 
of  human  laws,  and  lend  an  essential  aid  to  the  administration 
of  justice." 

HOX.  JOHX  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

From  an  Address  at  a  Bible  ^Meeting  in  Washinsrton,  D.  C. 

*'  Fellow  Citizens  and  Members  of  the  Bible  Society  :  In  taking 
the  chair  as  the  oldest  Vice  President  of  the  Society,  I  deem  my- 
self fortunate  in  having  the  opportunity,  at  a  stage  of  a  long  life 
drawing  rapidly  to  its  close,  to  bear  at  this  place,  the  capital  of 
our  National  Union,  in  the  Hall  of  Representation  of  the  North 
American  people,  in  the  chair  of  the  presiding  officer  of  the  as- 
sembly representing  the  whole  people,  the  personification  of  the 
great  and  mighty  nation ;  to  bear  my  solemn  testimonial  of  rev- 
erence and  gratitude  to  that  Book  of  books,  the  Holy  Bible. 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  painful  and  perilous  conflicts  inseparable 
from  public  life,  and  at  the  eve  of  that  moment  when  the  grave 
shall  close  over  them  for  ever,  I  may  be  permitted  to  indulge  the 
pleasing  reflection,  that,  having  been  taught  in  childhood  the  un- 
parallefed  blessings  of  the  Christian  Gospel,  in  the  maturity  of 
manhood  I  associated  with  my  brethren  of  that  age  for  spreading 
the  light  of  that  Gospel  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  by  the  simple 


20  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

and  silent  process  of  placing  in  the  hands  of  every  human  being 
who  needed,  and  could  not  otherwise  procure  it,  the  Book  which 
contains  the  duties,  admonitions,  the  promises,  and  the  rewards 
of  the  Christian  G-ospel. 

*'  It  is  a  soothing  consolation  to  my  last  hours,  that  having  so 
long  since  been  associated  in  this  cause  with  the  fathers,  I  still 
find  myself  associated  in  it  with  the  sons ;  that  it  has,  in  the  in- 
terval, been  perseveringly  and  unceasingly  prosecuted  with  in- 
tense ardour,  with  untiring  assiduity,  and  with  animating  and 
eminent  success. 

"  In  contemplating  what  may  be  the  life  and  adventures  of  one 
whole  generation  of  the  race  of  man,  the  only  members  of  the 
animal  creation  susceptible  of  the  perception  of  good  and  evil, 
of  virtue  and  vice,  of  right  and  wrong,  there  are  in  this,  as  there 
have  been  in  all  former  ages,  observing  and  reflecting  men,  es- 
pecially in  the  decline  of  life,  prone  to  depreciate  the  moral  and 
nhysical  character  of  the  present  age,  and  to  glorify  the  past. 

"  Far  more  pleasing,  and,  I  believe,  more  correct,  is  the  conclu- 
sion, that  the  race  of  man  in  his  fallen  state  is  placed  by  succes- 
sive generations  on  the  earth  to  improve  his  own  condition  and 
that  of  his  kind,  and  that  this  book  has  been  furnished  him  by 
the  special  providence  of  his  Maker,  to  enable  him,  by  faith  in  his 
Redeemer,  and  by  works  conformable  to  that  faith,  to  secure 
salvation  in  a  future  world,  and  to  promote  his  well  being  in  the 
present. 

"If  this  be  true,  the  improvement  of  successive  generations  of 
men  in  their  condition  upon  the  earth,  and  preparation  for  eter- 
nity, depends,  in  no  small  degree,  on  the  diffusion  and  inculcation 
of  this  volume  amono^  all  the  tribes  of  men  throuHiout  the  habit- 
able  globe.  This  is  the  great  and  exclusive  object  for  which,  in 
the  last  generation,  this  society  was  instituted.  The  whole  book 
had  then  existed  upward  of  eighteen  hundred  years ;  and  wherev- 
er it  had  penetrated,  and  been  received,  it  had  purified  and  ex- 
alted the  character  of  man. 

"Reposing  upon  three  fundamental  pillars — the  unity  and 
omnipotence  of  God,  the  G-overnor  of  all  the  worlds ;  the  immor- 
tality of  the  human  soul,  and  its  responsibility  to  that  Creator  in 
a  future  state  ;  and  a  system  of  morals  embracing  in  one  precept 
the  whole  duty  of  man  upon  the   earth,   ^  Thou  shalt  love  the 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        21 

Lord  thy  G-od  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all 
thy  strength,  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself — the  Bible  carries 
with  it  the  history  of  the  creation,  the  fall  and  redemption  of 
man,  and  discloses  to  him,  in  the  infant  born  at  Bethlehem,  the 
Legislator  and  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  faith  in  him  and  in 
his  divine  mission  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  performance 
of  his  will,  and  that  will  is  all  comprised  in  the  song  of  the 
angel  at  his  birth,  '  Glory  to  G-od  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace,  good  will  to  man.'  In  whatever  region  of  the  earth,  in 
whatever  condition  of  .the  human  being,  this  blissful  sound  first 
salutes  his  ears,  the  depravities  of  his  nature  fall  before  it.  The 
selfish  and  rancorous  passions  which  had  absorbed  his  soul  and 
ruled  his  conduct  under  the  impulses  of  hatred  and  revenge,  sink 
with  him  into  impotence.  He  bathes  in  the  waters  of  Jordan, 
and  rises  cleansed  from  his  leprosy,  in  the  freshness  and  vigour  of 
health,  and  the  purity  of  benevolence  and  mercy. 

*'  Such  has  been  the  progress  of  the  G-ospel  wherever  the  Bible 
has  been  carried  and  suffered  to  be  read.  In  the  mysterious 
providence  of  G-od,  its  influence  has  been  counteracted  by  the 
spirit  of  evil  in  all  its  thousand  forms,  throughout  a  long  succes- 
sion of  ages.  Its  advancement  has  been  slow ;  its  victories  des- 
perately contested;  its  triumphs  subject  to  cruel  vicissitudes; 
its  war  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  serpent,  a  perpetual, 
never-ceasing  struggle.  Yet  its  march  has  been  uniform  in  puri- 
fying and  ennobling  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  condi- 
tion and  character  of  man.  To  circulate  and  distribute  among 
great  multitudes  of  men  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  this  blessed 
volume,  was  the  purpose  for  which  this  society  was  instituted." 


SIR  ROBERT  PEEL. 

From  an  Address  at  a  Bible  Meeting  at  Tamworth  in  1827. 

"  There  is  a  great  movement  of  the  public  mind  relative  to 
public  education ;  all  parties,  of  whatever  creed  or  religious  de- 
nomination, are  beginning  to  be  convinced  that  there  has  been 
upon  the  part  of  all  of  us  a  great  deficiency  in  that  respect.  We 
have  permitted  our  religious  differences  to  operate  against  educa- 
tion, and  it  has  now  become  necessary  that  that  great  object  of 
national  education  shall  be  obtained  by  a  sacrifice,  on  the  part  of 


22  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

all  of  us,  of  some  of  those  scruples  which  have  hitherto  prevent- 
ed it. 

"  Be  the  character  of  that  education  what  it  may — whether 
complete  religious  instruction  constitutes  a  part  of  it — whether, 
to  accommodate  some,  the  religious  instruction  be  not  so  com- 
plete— whether  the  instruction  be  complete  or  deficient,  believe 
me,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  provide  for  the  distribution  of 
the  "Word  of  God. 

"  If  youth  are  educated  with  a  knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God, 
it  is  necessary  that  they  should  have  access  to  it  in  after  life ; 
and  if  they  are  not  so  educated,  it  is  the  more  incumbent  on  us 
to  provide  them  in  after  life  with  the  means  of  receiving  it. 

"  Whether  the  system  of  public  education  be  religious  or  not, 
the  necessity  of  giving  access  to  the  Word  of  God  remains  the 
same.  So  far  respecting  this  view  of  the  subject.  But  the  ob- 
ject of  the  Bible  Society  is  to  circulate  the  Word  of  God  in  the 
most  remote  regions ;  and  you  are  aware  that,  in  consequence  of 
recent  relations  with  the  Chinese  government,  we  have  received 
increased  facilities  for  the  distribution  of  the  Word  of  God  in  that 
country.  If  we  can  place  confidence  upon  the  reports  of  the  mis- 
sionaries labouring  in  China — and  I  know  we  can — we  have 
every  reason  for  believing  that  a  great  moral  revolution  may  be 
effected  in  that  land ;  and  it  may  be  that  the  present  is  that 
special  occasion,  when  the  knowledge  of  Divine  Truth  is  to  be 
conveyed  through  those  missionaries  to  that  immense  region,  if 
they  had  the  means  of  distributing  the  Word  of  God.  This  may 
be  the  special  occasion  upon  which  millions  and  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions may  be  converted  from  heathenism  to  the  knowledge  and 
Word  of  God,  which  will  make  them  wise  unto  salvation.  Again, 
we  are  now  founding,  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  great  em- 
pires. In  New  Zealand,  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  we  are 
laying  the  foundation  of  new  societies  ;  and  the  future  character 
and  moral  tendency  of  those  societies  which  may  spring  up  into 
great  kingdoms,  may  be,  and  no  doubt  will  be,  determined  by  the 
basis  of  moral  and  religious  instruction  upon  which  we  now  es- 
tablish them. 

"  If,  at  their  first  institution,  there  be  no  pains  taken  to  instil 
into  their  minds  the  principles  of  true  religion,  in  place  of  becom- 
ing great  and  valuable  kingdoms,  the  inhabitants  may  become 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        23 

pests  to  all  around  them,  corrupting  all  within  their  reach ;  but 
if,  in  laying  the  foundation  of  their  future  empire,  we  shall  sow 
the  truth  of  real  religion,  hereafter  this  land  may  claim  for  itself 
the  proud  and  high  distinction  of  having  propagated  the  knowU 
edge  and  Word  of  God,  and  of  having  laid  the  foundation,  not 
only  of  great,  but  moral  kingdoms." 


HOK  HENRY  CLAY. 

His  religious  views  as-given  by  his  Pastor,  the  Rev.  E.  F.  Berkely,  of  Lexington. 

"  I  never  knew  a  person  to  be  more  deeply  interested  in  ar- 
riving at  the  truth  in  religion,  than  Mr.  Clay.  He  did  nothing 
by  halves.  In  all  that  relates  to  man's  salvation,  he  wished  to 
understand  the  Christian  system  thoroughly — the  nature  and 
evidences  of  regeneration,  justification  by  faith  alone  in  the 
merits  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  &c.  After  his  mind  had  been 
drawn  to  an  investigation  of  the  claims  of  religion  upon  himself, 
I  scarcely  ever  met  him  at  his  office,  or  at  his  house,  that  conver- 
sation did  not  turn  upon  this  subject,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
would  ask  many  questions  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  and  teach- 
ings of  vScripture. 

"On  one  occasion,  about  three  years  ago,  he  became  very  ill. 
Being  absent  from  the  city,  I  did  not  see  him  until  he  had  gotten 
better.  "When  I  entered  his  room,  he  arose,  and  taking  my  hand 
in  both  of  his,  he  said,  with  tears  in  his  eyes :  '  My  dear  sir,  I  am 
very  glad  to  see  you.  I  have  been  ill.  I  have  been  very  near  the 
grave  ;  and  I  was  surprised  at  the  composure,  and  even  pleasure, 
with  which  I  was  permitted  to  look  into  it ;  and  my  feelings  kin- 
dled almost  into  rapture  when  I  thought  of  that  better  world 
beyond.' 

"Of  his  deep  earnestness  in  a  preparation  for  that  better  world, 
from  his  first  assumption  of  the  vows  of  religion,  I  have  always 
been  well  assured." 


HON.  JOHN  SERGEANT. 

From  an  Address  before  the  Alumni  of  Nassau  Hall. 

"Our  fathers  thought  learning  and  religion  inseparable.  AYhen 
they  were  to  build  up  an  edifice  for  instruction,  they  laid  its 
foundation  in  piety,  and  they  humbly  invoked  the  Divine  aid  to 


24  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

fill  the  whole  structure  with  the  light  of  truth.  Nor  did  they 
neglect  the  ap}3ointed  means.  Within  its  walls  they  fixed  an 
altar,  not  like  that  in  Athens,  inscribed  to  the  '  Unknown  Grod,' 
but  to  Him  who,  having  always  manifested  himself  in  the  works 
of  creation  and  providence,  has  also  made  himself  known  by  the 
revelation  of  his  attributes  and  of  his  holy  will.  Around  this 
altar,  they  thought  it  right  to  assemble  daily  the  youth  commit- 
ted to  their  care,  and  to  endeavour  to  provide  that  its  fire  should 
be  fed,  and  its  services  be  performed  by  pious  and  learned  mxcn ; 
that  so  the  perfume  of  its  offerings  might  fill  the  atmosphere  of 
the  nursery  of  youth — all  human  learning  be  accomplished  with 
the  spirit  of  devotion,  and  the  recollection  of  our  dependence  and 
our  duties  be  continually  present  with  the  effort  to  improve  the 
faculties  of  the  mind. 

"Here,  then,  the  body  of  educated  men  must  take  their  stand. 
By  all  the  means  in  their  power  they  must  endeavour  to  avert  the 
pestilent  mischief  of  desecrating  the  places  of  instruction,  of  sep- 
arating the  culture  of  the  heart  from  that  of  the  mind,  and,  un- 
der the  pretence  of  a  liberal  morality,  of  rejecting  the  only  moral- 
ity that  is  clear  in  its  source,  pure  in  its  precepts,  and  efficacious 
in  its  influence — the  morality  of  the  Gospel.  All  else  is,  at  last, 
but  idolatry,  the  worship  of  something  of  men's  own  creation; 
and  that  thing  imperfect  and  feeble  like  himself,  and  wholly  in- 
sufficient to  give  him  support  and  strength." 


GENERAL  TAYLOR. 

A  Bible,  beautifully  bound  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  presented  to  Gen.  Taylor  by 
the  ladies  at  Frankfort.    He  replied  as  follows  : 

"I  accept  with  gratitude  and  pleasure  your  gift  of  this  inesti- 
mable Volume.  It  was  for  the  love  of  the  truths  of  this  great  and 
good  book  that  our  fathers  abandoned  their  native  shores  for  the 
wilderness.  Animated  by  its  lofty  principles,  they  toiled  and  suf- 
fered till  the  desert  blossomed  as  the  rose.  These  same  truths 
sustained  them  in  their  resolution  to  become  a  free  nation ;  and 
guided  by  the  wisdom  of  this  book,  they  founded  a  government, 
vmder  which  we  have  grown  from  three  millions  to  more  than 
twenty  millions  of  people,  and  from  bein^  but  as  a  stock  on  the 
borders  of  this  Continent,  we  have  spread  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.     I  trust  that  their  principles  of  liberty  may  extend, 


To    THE    Value    of    the    Scriptures.  25 

if  without  bloodshed,  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  extremi- 
ties of  the  continent.  If  there  were  in  that  book  nothing  but  its 
great  precept, '  All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ;'  and  if  that  precept  were  obeyed, 
our  government  might  extend  over  the  whole  continent.  Accept, 
sir,  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  kind  manner  in  which  you  have 
discharged  this  duty ;  and  expressing  again  my  sincere  thanks  to 
the  ladies  for  their  beautiful  gift,  I  pray  that  health,  peace,  and 
prosperity  may  long  be  continued  to  them." 


GEORGE  GRIFFIN,  Esq,  of  New  York. 

In  an  Address  before  the  American  Bible  Society. 

"The  efficacy  of  the  Bible  in  preparing  man  for  the  great  and 
decisive  interview  betwixt  him  and  his  Creator  is  a  theme  which 
I  leave  to  consecrated  lips.  Nor  will  I  now  attempt  to  portray  its 
inlluence  upon  individual  man  in  his  earthly  pilgrimage — how  it 
elevates  him  from  a  worm  of  the  dust  into  a  candidate  for  the 
skies — how  it  smooths  the  pillow  of  disease  and  pain — how  it 
sustains  him  in  those  scenes  of  deep  aflliction,  when  the  liand  of 
Grod  hath  riven  his  heart,  and  nothing  but  the  balm  of  Clod  can 
heal  it.  My  present  object  is  to  hint  at  the  intimate  connection 
between  the  Bible  and  our  national  prosperity.  The  destinies  of 
our  beloved  country  are  peculiarly  associated  with  the  Bible.  It 
was  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bible  that  our  country  was  settled : 
it  was  the  Bible  that  conducted  the  Pilgrim  to  our  eastern,  and 
the  Friend  to  our  central  wilderness. 

"If  the  revolution  which  made  us  free  differed  in  mildness  of 
character  from  all  previous  revolutions,  it  was  because  the  Bible 
mitigated  its  severity.  If  our  emancipated  country  has  risen 
from  infancy  to  vigorous  youth — if  she  is  now  hailed  as  the  hope 
of  the  world,  the  tyrant's  dread,  and  the  patriot's  boast,  let  her 
thank  her  statesmen  much ;  let  her  thank  her  Bible  more. 

"A  despotic  government  may  subsist,  and  perhaps  prosperously 
too,  without  the  Bible ;  a  republic  cannot.  A  republic  cannot, 
like  a  despotic  government,  be  sustained  by  force.  She  cannot, 
like  the  despot,  tame  her  children  into  heartless  submission  by 
the  bayonets  of  a  mercenary  army  ;  her  bayonets  are  reserved  for 
the  invading  foe. 


26  Testimony    of   Distinguished    Laymen 

^'  She  must  depend  for  domestic  tranquillity — for  preserving 
her  mild  institutions  pure  and  unimpaired,  on  the  wide  diffusion 
of  moral  principle.  Were  men  angels,  they  would  need  no  gov- 
ernment but  the  precepts  of  their  Creator  ;  were  they  devils,  they 
must  be  bound  in  adamantine  chains ;  and  as  they  approximate 
the  one  state  or  the  other,  their  government  may  be  free,  or  must 
be  severe.  The  patriot  then,  as  well  as  the  Christian,  may  anx- 
iously inquire  what  are  the  best  means  of  promoting,  what  the 
surest  foundation  of  human  virtue. 

"  The  melioration  of  the  moral  condition  of  fallen  man  has 
been  in  every  age  a  favourite  object  with  the  philanthropic  legis- 
lator. For  this  object,  Solon  propounded  his  theory,  and  Lycur- 
gus  his  theory,  and  the  Roman  Numa  his.  The  Being  who  made 
man  has  also  condescended  to  propose  a  plan  for  his  moral  im- 
provement ;  a  plan  exceeding  in  effect  all  human  systems,  as  far 
as  the  Legislator  of  the  heavens  surpasses  in  wisdom  the  states- 
man of  the  earth.  The  Bible  is  not  a  scheme  of  abstract  faith 
and  doctrine  :  its  great  object  is  to  render  man  virtuous  here,  and 
thus  prepare  him  for  happiness  hereafter. 

^'  For  this  purpose  it  addresses  itself  to  all  his  fears  and  to  all 
his  hopes :  it  fastens  its  benign  influence  upon  him  at  the  dawn 
of  childhood,  and  never  leaves  or  forsakes  him  unless  his  con- 
science becomes  seared ;  and  even  then  it  hangs  up  before  his  in- 
tellectual vision  'a  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment,'  which,  though 
it  cannot  melt  him  into  penitence,  makes  him  falter  in  the  career 
of  guilt.  Not  confined,  like  the  code  of  honour,  to  the  circles  of 
the  great,  it  visits,  too,  the  abodes  of  penury ;  it  sees  the  orphari 
destitute,  friendless,  perhaps  about  to  become  the  victim  of  tempt-* 
ation,  and  kindly  provides  an  asylum  for  the  little  outcast,  and 
trains  him  up  for  future  usefulness  ;  it  finds  the  spendthrift  bank- 
rupt in  fortune,  character,  and  hope,  'fit  for  treasons,  stratagems, 
and  spoils,'  and  with  a  father's  voice  calls  back  the  desperate  and 
starving  prodigal  to  the  rich  banquet  of  virtue ;  in  short,  it  per- 
vades every  department  of  society,  and  brings  its  variegated  mass 
within  the  influence  of  that  high  moral  principle  which  is  the 
only  substitute  for  despotic  power.  This  controlling  and  sus- 
taining principle  has  no  substantial  basis  but  the  Bible  ;  its  other 
foundations  have  ever  proved  to  be  sand  :  the  Bible  is  found  to  be 
its  only  rock. 


To    THE    Value    of   the    Scrittures.  27 

"A  republic  without  the  Bible  will  inevitably  become  the  vic- 
tim of  licentiousness ;  it  contains  within  itself  the  turbulent  and 
untamable  elements  of  its  own  destruction. 

"  There  is  no  political  Eden  for  fallen  man  save  what  the  Bible 
protects." 

HOX.  JOHN  C.  "HORNBLOWER,  late  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey. 
"  Let  this  precious  Volume  have  its  proper  influence  on  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  our  liberties  are  safe,  our  country  blessed,  and 
the  world  happy.  There  is  not  a  tie  that  unites  us  to  our  fami- 
lies, not  a  virtue  that  endears  us  to  our  country,  nor  a  hope  that 
thrills  your  bosoms  in  the  prospect  of  future  happiness,  that  has 
nv>t  its  foundation  in  this  sacred  Book.  It  is  the  charter  of  char- 
ters—the palladium  of  liberty— the  standard  of  righteousness. 
Its  divine  influence  can  soften  the  heart  of  the  tyrant — can  break 
the  rod  of  the  oppressor,  and  exalt  the  humblest  peasant  to  the 
dignified  rank  of  an  immortal  being — an  heir  of  eternal  glory. 
Fellow  citizens— friends  of  liberty !  wiU  you  not  rejoice,  then, 
with  me,  in  the  triumphs  of  the  Bible,  and  bless  the  day  that 
gave  to  our  country  a  Society,  whose  benevolent  object  is  to  ex- 
tend the  influence  of  the  Scriptures  throughout  the  world  ?" 


HON.  LEWIS  CASS. 

In  1846  a  gentleman  in  New  York  wrote  this  distinsruished  senator,  then  at  Washington,  for  his  views  on 
the  value  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  The  following  is  from  what  he  then  furnished  on 
the  first  topic  : 

"That  we  are  fearfully  and  loonderfulhj  made,  we  learn 
equally  from  the  book  of  nature  and  from  the  Book  of  Revelation. 
Our  faculties  and  our  moral  perceptions  are  in  strange  combina- 
tion ;  and  any  system  of  education  which  confines  its  eftbrts  to 
the  head,  and  leaves  the  heart  untouched,  will  be  faithless  to  one 
of  the  great  purposes  of  human  discipline.  And  what  can  touch 
the  heart  like  the  plan  of  redemption,  and  the  revelation  of  the 
designs  of  God  for  the  progress  of  man  in  knowledge  and  happi- 
ness, commencing  here,  and  continuing,  but  never  terminating, 
hereafter  ?  It  is  vain  to  expect  that  the  impulses  and  passions, 
which  make  part  of  our  moral  and  physical  constitutions,  can  be 
regulated  and  restrained  by  the  cool  deductions  of  reason.     Cer- 


28  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

tainly,  as  the  sphere  of  knowledge  is  extended,  we  discover  higher 
and  higher  motives  of  action,  and  ought  to  feel  stronger  and 
stronger  inducements  to  virtuous  exertion.  But  experience  shows 
that  the  improvement  of  the  intellectual  powers  has  no  necessary- 
connection  with  the  heart  and  conscience.  God,  in  his  provi- 
dence, has  given  us  the  Book  of  his  revealed  will  to  be  with  us, 
at  the  commencement  of  our  career  in  life,  and  at  its  termina- 
tion ;  and  to  accompany  us  during  all  the  chances  and  changes 
of  its  trying  and  fitful  progress,  to  control  the  passions,  to  en- 
lighten the  judgment,  to  guide  the  conscience,  to  teach  us  what 
\ve  ought  to  be  here,  and  what  we  shall  be  hereafter,  and  to  show 
the  inseparable  union  which  exists  between  our  duty  and  our 
destiny. 

''To  send  this  Book  to  all,  and  to  persuade  all  to  read,  to 
study,  and  to  believe  it,  is  worthy  of  our  age  and  country,  and 
is  worthy  of  the  zealous  co-operation  of  every  man  interested  in 
the  improvement  and  moral  advancement  of  the  human  family. 

"  The  youth  of  America  have  a  glorious  theatre  of  exertion  be- 
fore them.  That  they  may  appreciate  its  duties  and  its  rewards, 
and  may  be  prepared  for  its  offers  and  demands,  by  the  lessons  of 
the  Sabbath  and  of  the  Bible,  must  be  the  sincere  wish  of  ev- 
ery one  interested  in  the  progress  and  prospects  of  our  country, 
and  especially  of  those  who  must  soon  pass  from  its  councils,  and 
see  its  destinies  committed  to  a  new  generation.  Impressed 
with  these  considerations,  I  earnestly  hope  that  God's  Day  may 
be  hallowed,  and  his  Word  studied  through  this  whole  land,  till 
their  obligations  are  felt  and  acknowledged  by  all  its  people." 


HON.  H.  L.  PINCKNEY,  M.  C.  from  S.  Carolixa. 

From  an  Address  at  a  Bible  jVIeeting  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  1834. 

"  There  is  a  saying,  as  true  as  it  is  trite,  that  we  seldom  esti- 
mate blessings  properly  until  we  have  lost  them ;  and  perhaps, 
therefore,  the  vast  importance  of  the  Bible,  not  only  to  ourselves, 
but  to  those  unhappy  beings  who  have  never  known  it,  may  be 
best  imagined,  and  most  strongly  impressed  upon  our  minds,  by 
considering,  for  a  moment,  what  we  ourselves  would  be  without 
it.  Suppose,  then,  that  at  this  very  moment  the  Bible,  with  all 
the  institutions  connected  with  it,  were  blotted  from  existence : 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Script u res.        29 

what  would  be  the  effect  even  upon  this  happy  and  enlightened 
laud?  Would  it  not  become,  comparatively,  a  scene  of  worse 
than  Egyptian  darkness  and  savage  barbarism  ?  Would  it  not 
become,  compared  with  what  it  now  is,  a  most  melancholy  scene 
of  civil,  political,  and  moral  degradation ;  and  exhibit  the  same 
relation  to  its  present  palmy  state,  that  is  now  presented  by  the 
pagan  and  heathen  nations  of  the  world  ?  Can  there  be  a  doubt 
of  this  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact,  that  exactly  in  proportion  as  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Gospel  prevail  among  a  people,  or  they  are  ignorant 
of,  and  unactuated  by  them,  so  they  are  either  distinguished  by 
all  the  qualities  and  endowments  that  elevate,  and  purify,  and 
adorn  our  nature,  or  debased  by  the  vices  and  abominations  that 
degrade  it  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact,  that  heathen  nations,  generally,  are 
the  most  ignorant  and  barbarous  on  earth ;  and  that  while  all 
Christian  nations  are  immeasurably  elevated  above  the  heathen 
in  knowledge,  virtue,  and  benevolence,  so  the  relative  rank  and 
attainments  of  Christian  nations  themselves  are  governed  by  the 
exact  degree  in  which  they  possess  and  practise  the  G-ospel  in 
its  purity  ?  And  if  it  be  true,  as  it  unquestionably  is,  that  the 
remarkable  superiority  of  our  country  over  others  is  altogether 
ow4ng  to  the  superior  degree  to  which  it  is  moulded  and  regula- 
ted by  the  meliorating  and  reforming  influences  of  the  Gospel, 
preached  in  its  purity,  and  extensively  practised  in  its  spirit,  is 
it  not  equally  true,  that  exactly  in  proportion  as  those  blessed  in- 
fluences should  be  lost  or  withdrawn,  our  people  would  sink,  rap- 
idly and  inevitably  sink,  into  one  general  and  undistinguishable 
mass  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  degradation  and  debasement  ? 
''  Who  that  thinks  of  these  things,  but  must  see  and  acknowl- 
edge the  vast  importance  of  the  Bible,  as  well  to  the  temporal 
improvement  as  to  the  eternal  happiness  of  man,  and  the  conse- 
quent duty  and  obligation  of  diffusing  it  through  every  portion  of 
our  country,  and  among  all  classes  and  conditions  of  society? 
What  cause,  indeed,  is  there,  or  can  there  be,  more  truly  and  em- 
phatically the  cause  both  of  God  and  man,  or  that  can  appeal 
more  strongly  to  the  hearts  and  judgments,  not  only  of  all  those 
who  profess  to  love  and  serve  their  God,  but  of  all  wdio  desire  the 
improvement  and  happiness  of  their  fellow  men  ?  Does  the  pa- 
triot mourn  the  extensive  prevalence  of  vice  ?  Let  him  apply  the 
only  adequate  corrective — the  dissemination  of  the  Bible.    Would 


30  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

the  philanthropist  arrest  the  progress  of  corruption,  and  mitigate 
the  causes  and  sorrows  of  misfortune  ?  Let  him  aid  in  the  dis- 
semination of  the  Bible.  Would  they  arrest  the  march  of  intem- 
perance, and  inculcate  habits  of  sobriety  and  industry ;  would 
they  inspire  a  reverence  for  virtue,  and  a  hatred  of  vice ;  would 
they  have  oaths  held  sacred,  and  a  promise  to  be  regarded  as 
binding  as  an  oath ;  would  they  have  fraud  and  imposture 
frowned  down  as  infamous,  and  cruelty  and  deception  banished 
from  among  us ;  would  they  have  the  Sabbath  respected,  the 
name  of  God  revered,  and  the  sacred  institutions  of  religion  hon- 
oured and  supported  as  they  should  be?  Let  them  aid  in  the 
dissemination  of  the  Bible.  Would  they  reform  the  vicious,  in- 
struct the  ignorant,  repress  profanity,  check  the  pernicious 
growth  of  infidelity,  elevate  the  standard  of  morals,  and  thus 
exalt  the  character  and  promote  the  true  happiness  of  our  coun- 
try ?  Let  them  aid  in  the  dissemination  of  the  Bible.  The  dif- 
fusion of  the  Bible  is  not  only  eminently  important  in  itself,  but 
it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole  system  of  moral  machinery 
which  has  been  organized  for  the  general  improvement  and  reno- 
vation of  society.  In  vain  may  we  undertake  any  moral  enter- 
prise whatever,  unless  the  minds  of  the  people  have  been  pre- 
viously enlightened  and  prepared  by  the  circulation  of  the  Bible. 
In  vain  may  we  expect  any  thing  like  a  general  attendance  on 
religious  institutions,  or  extensive  revivals  of  religion,  in  places 
in  which  the  people  generally  are  unacquainted  with  the  Bible. 
To  produce  these  great  ends,  the  attention  of  the  people  must  be 
first  directed  to  the  Holy  Volume.  They  must  be  persuaded  to 
peruse  its  pages,  and  to  understand  the  true  import  of  its  denun- 
ciations and  its  promises.  When  this  is  done,  and  the  proper 
foundation  has  thus  been  laid  for  the  preacher,  the  ivord  is  then 
carried  home  effectually  to  their  hearts  and  consciences,  even  by 
the  power  and  demonstration  of  the  Spirit." 


HON.  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER. 

From  an  Address  delivered  by  Mr.  B.  at  Alexandria,  D.  C,  in  1834,  when  he  was  Attorney  General  of 

the  United  States. 

"  Men  of  all  classes  and  pursuits,  in  every  part  of  Christendom, 
are  proposing  schemes  to  meliorate  the  condition  of  their  own  com- 
munities, and  for  the  civilization  and  improvement  of  the  rest  of 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        31 

mankind.  These  schemes  naturally  take  their  complexion  from 
the  feelings  and  pursuits  of  their  authors.  The  mere  politician 
tells  us,  that  the  end  may  be  accomplished  by  wise  and  pater- 
nal institutions  of  government,  and  by  the  faithful  administration 
of  their  various  functions.  And  surely  no  one — in  our  country  at 
least — will  underrate  the  value  of  such  institutions.  But  all  ex- 
perience has  shown,  that  human  legislation  can  only  reach  a 
small  part  of  the  ills  to  which  the  individual  members  of  every 
community  are  liable  ;  and  that,  unless  the  mass  of  the  commu- 
nity are  sufficiently  instructed  to  be  capable  of  self-government, 
the  wisest  institutions  will  fail  of  their  object,  and  soon  fall  into 
decay.  And  we  are  therefore  told,  that  to  well  adapted  schemes 
of  government  there  must  be  added  the  thorough  education  of  the 
people  by  means  of  primary  schools,  academies,  and  other  institu- 
tions ;  the  general  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  by  a  free  press ; 
the  cultivation  of  the  sciences,  and  the  general  improvement  of 
the  intellectual  faculties.  But  although  education  and  knowledge 
ought  ever  to  be  cherished  as  sources  of  abundant  and  incalcula- 
ble good,  yet  in  numerous  instances,  it  has  been  found  that  vicious 
practices  and  sentiments,  and  much  individual  and  social  miser}^, 
may  co-exist  with  the  cultivation  of  knowledge,  and  with  the  arts 
of  refined  and  elegant  society.  In  view  of  this  fact,  the  political 
economist  and  the  social  reformer  advance  another  step,  and  in- 
sist upon  the  indispensable  necessity  of  such  arrangements  as 
will  check  the  growth  of  pauperism  and  crime,  and  promote  the 
more  certain  acquisition  and  the  more  advantageous  distribution 
of  national  and  of  private  wealth. 

"  That  immense  good  may  be  effected  by  the  adoption  of  ju- 
dicious economical  and  social  arrangements,  and  that  many  im- 
provements in  these  respects  are  indispensable  to  the  well  being 
of  the  most  enlightened  nations,  is  not  to  be  doubted.  But  the 
most  perfect  system  of  political  economy  and  of  social  life  will 
still  fall  short  of  reachins^  the  sources  of  the  universal  evil.  This 
truth  is  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  hearts  of  those  amiable  and 
exemplary  men  whose  morality  possesses  every  claim  to  the 
epithet  of  Christian,  except  that  it  does  not  flow  from  '  repent- 
ance towards  G-od'  and  'faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  that 
they  are  earnest  in  their  endeavours  to  inculcate  the  precepts 
and  to  enforce  the  practice   of  a  pure  and  operative  morality 


32  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

They  feel  and  know  that  vh'tue  is  indispensable  to  individual 
happiness  and  public  prosperity ;  and  they  would  therefore  make 
all  men  sober  and  orderly,  industrious  and,  upright,  benevolent 
and  patriotic.  In  all  this,  they  think  and  act  wisely ;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, they  do  not  wield  an  instrumentality  powerful  enough 
to  accomplish  their  benevolent  designs.  For  here  again  we  have 
the  testimony  of  experience,  which  has  shown  that  only  a  small 
portion  of  mankind  can  be  induced  to  yield  obedience  to  any 
system  of  morals,  which  does  not  proceed  from,  and  is  not  sanc- 
tioned by,  a  supernatural  authority.  All  systems  merely  human 
are  so  deficient  in  the  sanctions  which  accompany  them,  that 
many  of  those  who  adopt  them  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to 
violate  at  pleasure  their  most  solemn  injunctions.  This  was  the 
case  with  many  celebrated  teachers  among  the  Stoics,  the  most 
rigid  moralists  of  pagan  antiquity ;  and  the  same  thing  has  been 
exemplified  in  the  lives  of  some  of  the  most  eloquent  expositors 
of  natural  religion  among  the  moderns. 

"  Now  the  reason  of  all  this  is  perfectly  familiar  to  every 
experienced  and  well  instructed  Christian  who  takes  his  philos- 
ophy from  the  Bible.  He  is  informed,  and  he  believes,  '  that  out 
of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life ;'  and  he  therefore  traces  all 
moral  action  to  that  capacious  source.  He  is  further  informed, 
and  he  feels  and  knows  it  to  be  true,  that  '  the  heart  is  deceitful 
above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked;'  and  because  it  is 
so,  he  understands  the  reason  of  the  authoritative  declaration, 
that  from  within,  out  of  the  hearty  '  proceed  evil  thoughts,'  and 
all  the  abominations  'that  defile  the  man,'  and  make  him  at 
once  the  victim  and  the  author  of  sorrows,  suffering,  and  crime. 
To  reach  the  origin  of  these  evils,  and,  so  far  as  our  present  con- 
dition will  permit,  to  banish  tliem  from  the  world,  the  Christian 
knows  some  remedy  must  be  found,  which  shall  reach  and  purify 
the  heart ;  and  he  also  knows,  that  the  sincere  and  vivid  appre- 
hension of  the  Christian  faith  is  the  only  thing  that  can  accom- 
plish this  most  desirable  result.  But  though,  for  this  reason, 
he  regards  all  the  mere  human  instrumentalities  recommended 
by  statesmen,  lovers  of  learning  and  science,  economists,  moral 
philosophers  and  reformers,  as  inadequate,  yet  he  does  not  reject 
any  one  of  them.  He  would  employ  them  all ;  but  to  each  and 
to  all  he  would  superadd  the  Grospel  of  Christ — the  '  wisdom  of 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        33 

God,'  and  'the  power  of  God' — and  the  knowledge  that  the 
practical  reception  of  this  system  is  indispensable  to  complete  suc- 
cess makes  even  the  humblest  Christian  to  be  '  wiser  than  his 
enemies,'  and  to  '  understand  more'  than  the  most  erudite 
*  teachers'  of  a  barren  philosopliy. 

"  Not  that  the  general  prevalence  of  Christianity  would  banish 
poverty  or  sickness,  suffering  or  sorrow,  from  the  earth.  The 
poor  we  have  always  with  us  ;  the  ordinary  ills  of  life  are  inci- 
dent to  our  present  state,  and  the  Christian  is  not  exempt  from 
them.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  exposed  to  many  peculiar  trials, 
and  in  matters  personal  to  himself  is  seldom  free  from  anxiety 
and  disquietude.  But  the  universal  adoption  and  practice  of  our 
religion  would  dry  up  many  sources  of  misery  ;  and  by  promoting 
the  love  and  fear  of  God,  peace,  virtue,  and  benevolence,  and 
giving  a  new  impulse  and  a  proper  direction  to  the  intellectual 
faculties,  and  to  all  the  arts  and  arrangements  of  social  life, 
would  insure  to  humanity  the  highest  happiness  of  which  it  is 
susceptible.  And  though  many  trials  would  still  remain  to  be 
encountered,  it  needs  no  argument  to  show,  that  the  blessedness 
of  heaven  will  constitute  an  overflowing  indemnity  for  all  thft 
sufferings  of  life.  He  is  truly  happy,  whatever  may  be  hi* 
temporal  condition,  who  can  call  God  his  father  in  the  full 
assurance  of  faith  and  hope.  And  amid  all  his  trials,  and 
conflicts,  and  doubts,  the  feeblest  Christian  is  still  compar- 
atively happy ;  because  cheered  by  the  hope — faint  and  hum- 
ble though  it  be — that  the  hour  is  coming,  when  he  shall  be 
delivered  from  '  this  body  of  sin  and  death,'  and  in  the  vision  of 
his  Redeemer,  and  by  a  never-ending  progression  in  knowledge 
and  virtue,  approximate  to  the  perfection  and  felicity  of  angels. 

"  Not  only  does  the  Bible  inculcate,  with  sanctions  of  highest 
import,  a  system  of  the  purest  morality ;  but  in  the  person  and 
character  of  our  blessed  Saviour  it  exhibits  a  tangible  illustration 
of  that  system.  In  him,  we  have  set  before  us — what,  till  the 
publication  of  the  Gospel,  the  world  had  never  seen — a  model  of 
feeling  and  action,  adapted  to  all  times,  places,  and  circum- 
stances ;  and  combining  so  much  of  wisdom,  benevolence,  and 
holiness,  that  none  can  fathom  its  sublimity ;  and  yet,  presented 
in  a  form  so  simple,  that  even  a  child  may  be  made  to  understand 
and  tausfht  to  love  it. 


34  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

"  The  strictness  and  fervour  of  his  devotions,  the  justice,  meek- 
ness, and  benevolence  of  his  conduct,  may  be  imitated  by  the  hum- 
blest of  his  followers ;  and  each  of  them  is  bound  to  make  the 
effort  to  do  so.  Those  who  truly  embrace  the  Gospel  will  assur- 
edly make  such  an  effort ;  and  on  those  who  do  not  thus  receive  it, 
this  living  exemplification  of  perfect  virtue  will  yet  produce  a 
much  greater  influence  than  any  merely  preceptive  code,  however 
useful  or  complete.  Many  men,  who  have  never  believed  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  'Lamb  of  G-od  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,' 
have  yet  been  attracted  by  the  simplicity  and  loveliness  of  his 
character,  as  drawn  by  the  evangelists,  to  the  practice  of  benevo- 
lence and  virtue.  With  a  view  to  even  such  an  influence  as  this, 
the  universal  dissemination  of  the  Bible  deserves  the  support  of 
every  well  wisher  to  the  happiness  of  mankind." 


HOK  LUTHER  BRADISH. 

From  an  Address  before  the  American  Bible  Society. 

"  That  *  The  Bible  is  not  less  conducive  to  the  well  being  of 
man  in  this  life,  than  it  is  essential  to  his  hopes  in  that  which  is 
to  come,'  as  a  theoretical  truth,  might  in  advance  be  deduced 
from  the  character  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  the  nature  of  its  con- 
tents, and  their  adaptation  to  the  character  and  condition  of  man, 
both  as  an  isolated  individual,  and  as  a  member  of  organized 
society.  As  a  practical  truth,  it  is  established  by  our  experience 
of  the  past,  and  is  therefore  an  historical  fact :  indeed,  the  course 
of  the  sun  in  the  progress  of  the  seasons  is  not  more  distinctly 
marked  by  its  impress  on  vegetable  life,  than  has  been  the  dis- 
semination of  the  Bible  in  its  influence  upon  the  individual 
character  and  the  social  condition  of  man. 

"  As  an  individual,  wherever  the  Bible  has  been  circulated  it 
has  every  where  reclaimed  him  from  that  superstition  and  idola- 
try which  are  the  result  of  his  ignorance  and  the  strong  natural 
tendency  of  his  character ;  and  has  enlightened,  purified,  and 
given  a  true  direction  to  that  religious  principle  which  seems  to 
be  a  constituent  element  in  his  nature  and  a  universal  instinct 
of  his  beins^.  It  has  tausfht  him  the  oris^in  and  s^reat  end  of 
his  existence.  From  it  he  has  learned  his  true  relations  to  Grod 
and  to  his  fellow  men,  and  his  duty  to  both  resulting  from  those 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        36 

relations.  While  it  has  inculcated  the  duty  of  obedience,  of 
reverence,  and  of  worship  of  the  former,  it  has  taught  hiin  those 
heaven-born  precepts,  to  love  his  neighbour  as  himself,  and  to  do 
unto  others  as  he  would  that  others  should  do  unto  him.  It  has 
instructed  him  in  the  necessity  and  the  wisdom  of  self-govern- 
ment, the  regulation  of  his  passions,  and  the  cultivation  and 
exercise  of  every  virtue. 

''  But  if  such  has  been  the  effect  of  a  dissemination  of  the  Bible 
upon  man's  individual  character,  equally  apparent  and  still  more 
extensive  has  been  its  influence  upon  his  social  condition.  It 
has  raised  him  from  a  degraded  state  of  savage  barbarity  to  the 
condition  and  pursuits  of  civilized  life.  It  has  diminished  the 
frequency  and  softened  the  features  of  that  great  scourge  of  man 
in  all  conditions,  war ;  and  has  introduced  into  the  policy  and  the 
intercourse  of  nations  greater  justice,  forbearance,  and  love  of 
peace.  It  has  every  where  been  favourable  alike  to  public  liberty 
and  individual  freedom.  Wherever  the  Bible  has  gone,  it  has 
carried  with  it  juster  notions  of  individual  rights  and  sounder 
views  of  the  true  end  and  object  of  government.  It  has  exerted 
a  great  and  benign  influence  upon  the  enactment  of  laws  and 
their  execution.  It  has  given  its  solemn  sanction  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  right,  and  has  tempered  with  mercy  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice.  And  while  it  has  meliorated  the  punishment 
of  offences  by  the  introduction  and  improvement  of  penitentiary 
and  correctional  systems,  it  has  greatly  strengthened  those  of 
preventive  police,  by  imposing  its  binding  restraints  upon  the 
indulgence  of  the  passions  and  the  commission  of  crimes. 

'•  Equally  great  and  salutary  has  been  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  upon  the  mental  labours  and  the  intellectual  condition  of 
man  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries.  It  has  chastened  his 
imagination  and  invigorated  his  judgment.  It  has  purified  liter- 
ature, elevated  philosophy,  directed  science  to  its  true  ends  and 
aims,  and  thus  effectually  contributed  to  the  advancement  of 
civilization  and  the  melioration  of  the  world. 

*'  All  this  has  the  Bible  accomplished  for  man  in  regard  to  this 
life.  But  this  precious  Revelation  of  God  to  man  is  not  limited 
to  his  brief  existence  here.  It  has  a  far  higher  aim,  and  was 
destined  to  achieve  for  him  a  far  greater  and  more  enduring  good 
in  reference  to  that  which  is  to  come. 


36  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

^'  That  cloud  of  doubt,  of  darkness,  and  of  silent  gloom  which 
for  ages  had  brooded  over  the  resting-place  of  the  dead,  and  which 
no  light  of  human  philosophy,  however  brilliant,  could  either 
dispel  or  penetrate,  is  removed  for  ever ;  and  to  the  aching  heart 
of  dying  man,  thirsting  for  immortality,  that  tomb,  which  before 
had  been  viewed  by  him  as  the  final  termination  of  all  things, 
is  now  presented  as  only  the  illuminated  passage  from  earth  to 
heaven — from  a  world  of  imperfection,  of  sin,  and  of  sorrow,  to  a 
far  higher  and  happier  state  of  being." 


JOHN"  THOMPSO]N',  Esq.,  of  Poughkeepsie. 

From  an  Address  on  the  theme,  "  That  the  Bible,  in  its  letter  and  spirit,  furnishes  the  best  of  all 
standards  b}'  which  to  test  the  numerous  theories  of  the  day  for  improving  the  condition  and  prospects 
of  the  race." 

"If  there  be,"  said  he,  "any  one  subject  that  at  this  day  com- 
mands general  attention,  it  is  that  of  national  and  social  oppres- 
sion. This  is  not  confined  to  one  country  or  one  people,  but  it  is 
so  throughout  all  Christendom.  Humanity  every  where  rises  up 
and  denies  the  law  of  its  bondage.  In  sullen  murmurs  or  in  loud 
clamours  it  utters  its  remonstrances ;  the  great  multitudes  have 
lifted  up  their  voices  like  the  sound  of  many  waters,  and  kings 
and  rulers  have  fled  fugitives  along  the  highways.  How  were 
the  American  people  electrified  by  the  masses  of  Europe  linking 
together  in  one  brotherhood,  the  high  and  the  low,  under  im- 
pulses common  to  our  nature.  It  seemed  as  if  Destiny  was 
standing  upon  the  summit  of  the  Alps  and  arousing  the  nations. 
Over  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  and  Italy  armed  men  rushed 
forth  to  strike  for  life  and  liberty. 

"All  this  we  saw  with  amazement  and  delight;  and  then  we 
beheld  the  ground  so  nobly  won  all  lost.  Despotism  and  treach- 
ery decimated  and  crushed  the  forces  of  the  free.  Why  was  tliis? 
We  changed  our  form  of  government,  and  peace  and  quiet  follow- 
ed. They  made  the  same  attempt,  and  failed.  The  cause  did 
not  exist  in  mere  outward  circumstances,  but  in  the  want  of 
those  early  associations  derived  from  the  Word  of  Grod.  A  free 
Bible  makes  free  men  the  world  over. 

"Without  Bible  views  of  liberty  and  equality  the  American 
Revolution  would  have  been  smothered  in  its  own  blood.  The 
blood  shed  at  Bunker  Hill  would  have  been  her  last.     That  lofty 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.       37 

monument,  instead  of  marking  the  foundation  of  an  empire, 
would  have  commemorated  a  rebellion  crushed  and  overthrown. 
"We  hear  much  of  the  mission  of  the  Anglo-^Saxon  race  and  of  the 
American  people.  One  mission  at  least  we  have,  but  it  should 
be  understood  that  our  success  lies  not  in  outward  constitutions, 
but  in  those  inner  principles  that  are  the  seeds  of  a  Christian 
democracy.  Constitutions  and  charters  are  all  well ;  but  they 
must  have  their  basis  in  that  great  Charter  given  by  the  King 
eternal,  immortal,  and  invisible,  as  a  foundation  on  which  to 
erect  the  superstructure  of  human  rights.  The  late  lamented 
Legare  said  that  every  man  who  stepped  from  the  Mayflower  was 
himself  a  living  Constitution;  and  until  Europe  possesses  such 
men,  she  will  pant  for  liberty  in  vain.  We  can  be  liberty  propa- 
gandists only  by  becoming  Bible  propagandists.  Carlyle  may 
write  his  latter-day  pamphlets  to  try  to  stay  the  progress  of 
democracy,  but  here  in  the  Bible  is  the  great  latter-day  pamphlet 
which  will  survive  that  great  day  for  which  all  other  days  were 
made.  It  needs  no  eulogy.  Christianity  has  written  it — written 
it  on  the  whole  course  of  her  history.  It  is  written  in  the  dilapi- 
dation of  the  Coliseum  and  the  Parthenon,  in  the  dethronement 
of  the  Olympian  Jupiter,  in  the  rent  vail  of  Isis,  in  the  fall  of 
Odin  and  of  Thor.  It  is  written  in  the  broken  fetter  and  the 
tenantless  dungeon ;  in  the  wing  of  commerce  and  the  smile  of 
labour ;  in  the  voice  of  prayer  and  song  of  praise.  These  all  record 
her  goings  forth,  and  vindicate  her  glory." 


HOK  T.  FRELIN'GHUYSEN',  late  U.  S.  Sexator  from  Xe^t  Jersey,  xow  Presi- 
dent OF  Rutger's  College. 

"  Whence  has  sprung  this  redeeming  spirit  that  has  already 
borne  its  blessings  to  every  clime  ?  that  floats  in  the  Bethel  flag ; 
penetrates  the  gloom  of  the  prison  ;  that  soothes  the  orphan's  cry, 
and  pleads  the  cause  of  the  widow ;  that  opens  the  stores  of 
thought  and  memory  to  the  long  bound  intellects  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  ;  that  is  now  closing  the  door  of  the  dram-shop — that  broad 
and  crowded  gateway  to  death  and  despair — and  is  sounding  the 
alarm,  and  concentrating  the  efforts  of  the  wise  and  good,  in 
view  of  the  Sabbath's  profanation  ? 

"  The  Bible  has  done  all,  sir.  Seal  up  this  one  volume,  and  in 
half  a  century  all  these  hopes  would  wither,  and  these  prospects 


38  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

perish  for  ever.  These  sacred  temples  would  crumble,  or  become 
the  receptacles  of  pollution  and  crime. 

''  But  how  animating  are  these  prospects  now  !  Spread  out 
the  map  of  the  world,  and  to  what  portion  of  its  surface  can  Ave 
be  pointed  that  has  not  come  up  in  remembrance,  and  enlisted 
Christian  sympathy?  Europe,  Asia,  and  America  have  been 
refreshed  with  these  living  waters ;  and  while  I  am  speaking,  the 
light  is  struggling  through  that  dark  cloud  which  has  for  ages 
rested  upon  unhappy  Africa.  There  we  can  perceive  how  gra- 
ciously the  benignity  of  Grod  often  reaches  over  the  designs  of  his 
people.  The  friends  of  the  infant  colony  planted  on  her  shores 
would  have  enjoyed  the  fulness  of  their  reward  had  it  become  a 
secure  refuge  for  wretched  outcasts  from  the  world's  sympathy ; 
and  yet  more  than  this  has  been  accomplished.  The  Lord  intends 
it  for  a  radiating  point  from  which  the  full  blaze  of  his  truth  shall 
beam  upon  that  benighted  continent ;  and,  ere  long,  this  Holy  Bi- 
ble shall  be,  in  all  her  tribes,  the  black  man's  counsellor  and  con- 
solation. The  temples  of  worship  that  lift  their  spires  to  heaven 
on  the  heights  of  Liberia  are  the  signals  to  an  oppressed  and  for- 
saken people  of  approaching  deliverance.  The  day  of  Africa's  re- 
demption is  on  its  way.     The  Grod  of  the  Bible  has  promised  it, 

''  The  United  States  are  furnishing  the  materials  for  an  event- 
ful history  that  shall  record  the  triumphs  or  defeat  of  a  politi- 
cal experiment  the  noblest  the  world  ever  beheld.  A  republic 
of  sovereignties,  that  has  extended  itself  to  a  mighty  continent, 
is  testing  the  stability  of  its  institutions.  Shall  they  endure  ? 
Shall  we  convince  the  world  that  the  tyrant's  plea  of  necessity  is 
false  ?  "We  may,  sir  ;  but  the  way  is  straight.  The  influence  of 
this  Sacred  Volume  alone  can  achieve  it.  Let  your  Society  be 
aided  to  dispense  this  treasure  fast  as  the  rapidly  increasing 
wants  of  the  people.  Let  it  circulate  through  all  our  States,  pro- 
claiming its  precepts  and  sanctions,  its  rules  of  life  and  duty. 
Let  it  find  its  way  into  every  cottage  of  the  West,  until  the 
whole  mass  of  our  population  shall  yield  to  its  elevating  moral 
power ;  and  under  the  benignant  smiles  of  Him  who  delights  to 
bless  his  own  Word,  our  government,  the  last  hope  of  liberty,  will 
rest  on  foundations  against  which  the  winds  and  waves  shall  beat 
in  vain. 

"And  it  is  a  most  encouraging  reflection  that  the  conviction  of 


To    THE    Value    of    the    Scriptures.  39 

this  truth  has  become  national.  Its  demonstration  may  be  read 
in  a  resolution  already  adopted  for  the  supply  of  nearly  six 
millions  of  our  citizens  with  the  Word  of  Life,  and  soon  the 
American  Bible  Society  will  have  secured  a  perpetual  title  to  the 
name  it  bears.  And  what  new  interesting  relations  will  then  be 
developed,  when  every  family  in  this  great  brotherhood  will  be 
bound  to  your  Society  and  to  each  other  by  the  Bible  !  The  Lord 
hath  said,  '  My  word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void.'  You  have 
sent  it  forth,  and  you  will  then  have  left  it,  as  a  sacred  deposit, 
with  every  household  ;  and  where  shall  we  look  for  the  hope  of 
our  country,  for  the  preservation  of  its  union^  for  the  blessing  of 
the  God  of  our  fathers,  if  we  may  not  here  ? 

"  But  the  charity  that  will  have  reached  this  glorious  accom- 
plishment cannot  retire  from  its  active  labours  while  other 
nations  and  climes  are  destitute  of  the  light  of  truth.  The  hero 
of  Macedon  is  said  to  have  wept  that  conquest  and  carnage  were 
stayed  for  the  want  of  victims,  that  no  more  worlds  remained  to 
plunder.  Shall  Christian  ardour  be  surpassed  by  a  spirit  that 
seeks  its  aliment  in  evil?  No,  sir;  I  trust  that  the  struggles  of 
benevolence  will  never  subside,  while  a  single  tribe ^  or  family^  or 
soul  of  all  earth'' s  population  shall  need  a  BibleP 


HON.  PETER  D.  VROOM,  formerly  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and   now  Am- 
bassador OF  THE  United  States  to  Prussia. 

"  Our  country  is  a  moral  wonder.  It  is  rapidly  advancing 
in  population,  enterprise,  improvement,  and  intellectual  culture. 
New  States,  which  in  extent  of  territory  may  vie  with  some  of 
the  kingdoms  of  the  old  world,  rise  up  before  us  as  if  by  enchant- 
ment. Honest  labour  meets  its  recompense.  The  early  and  tho 
latter  rains  shower  down  their  blessings  upon  the  evil  and  the 
good  ;  and  the  prolific  earth  teems  with  the  richest  productions  of 
nature.  The  spirit  of  liberty,  that  indomitable  principle  in  the 
American  people,  is  cultivated  with  jealous  care,  and  the  tem- 
poral prosperity  of  the  country  advances  with  a  giant's  step. 
The  ocean,  like  a  friendly  barrier,  separates  us  from  the  wars,  the 
desolations,  and  the  blood-drenched  fields  of  Europe.  Under  these 
favourable  circumstances,  the  increase  of  our  population  from 
nafura  1  causes  must  necessarily  be  great ;  and  if  our  people  were 
to  remain  stationary  in  their  location,  it  would  require  strict  at- 


40  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

tention  on  the  part  of  our  auxiliaries  to  supply  the  increasing 
demand. 

"  But,  sir,  we  are  not  a  stationary  people.  We  have  the  rest- 
less spirit  of  freemen,  and  are  fond  of  change.  The  advancement 
of  worldly  interests  and  all  the  various  incentives  of  unsanctified 
ambition  induce  our  citizens  to  leave  the  altars  and  the  graves 
of  their  fathers,  and  make  to  themselves  a  home  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Now  if  we  would  do  our  work  effectually,  we  must  follow 
them  there  with  the  Bible.  They  cannot  go  without  carrying 
sin  with  them ;  it  is  a  constant  inmate,  and  takes  up  no  room ; 
but  the  Bible  may  be  left  behind,  and  its  use  and  value  forgotten 
together.  Or  if  a  single  copy  be  taken  along,  how  soon  is  it  lost 
in  the  rapid  changes  that  follow ! 

"  The  tide  of  emigration  is  setting  onward  with  unabated 
power.  AYhile  I  speak,  the  spirit  of  enterprise  is  pushing  its  way 
to  the  far  "West ;  now  striking  into  the  dark  bosom  of  the  forest, 
and  now  pursuing  its  course  along  the  margin  of  some  stream, 
which  for  ages  has  rolled  along  toward  the  ocean  in  unbroken 
solitude ;  in  either  case  far  removed  from  the  influence  of  re- 
ligion and  the  Bible.  Can  we,  who  know  the  value  of  Grospel 
truth,  who  have  partaken  of  its  blessings,  and  are  constantly  re- 
freshed by  the  rich  streams  that  flow  for  ever  from  this  spiritual 
fountain — can  we  be  insensible  to  their  wants  ? 

"We  all  know  that  our  favoured  country  is  a  retreat  for  the 
oppressed  of  every  land.  No  matter  what  may  be  their  character 
or  condition,  she  welcomes  them  to  her  shores,  and  invests  them 
with  the  privileges  of  freemen.  Thousands  and  ten  thousands 
are  annually  escaping  from  civil  misrule  or  religious  intolerance, 
and  scattering  themselves  on  the  face  of  our  land.  They  form  an 
important  part  of  our  population,  and  must  necessarily  exert  an 
influence  on  the  destinies  of  our  country.  Among  these,  there 
are  many,  very  many,  who,  like  multitudes  of  our  own  brethren, 
are  groping  in  darkness,  and  perishing  for  lack  of  vision.  These 
it  is  our  duty  to  search  out  and  to  aid ;  and  this  should  be  done 
year  after  year.  We  would  approach  them,  not  as  sectarians  in 
religion  any  more  than  sectarians  in  politics ;  but  in  the  higher 
and  nobler  feelings  we  would  proffer  to  them  in  one  hand  the 
charter  of  our  earthly  rights,  and  in  the  other  the  dearer  charter 
of  our   heavenly  inheritance.     In   thus   approaching   them,  our 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        41 

adopted  brethren  may  rest  satisfied  that  our  motives  are  pure ; 
we  meet  them  on  the  broad  and  catholic  basis  of  the  Bible  loith- 
out  note  or  comment.  We  believe  it  to  be  the  best  hope  of  that 
country  in  which  we  have  now  a  common  interest ;  and,  what  is 
of  infinitely  more  importance,  we  believe  it  to  be  '  the  power  of 
Grod  and  the  wisdom  of  God'  unto  the  salvation  of  their  souls." 


HON.  EMORY  WASHBURN",  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

On  the  topic,  "That  the  general  diffusion  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  an  efficient  measure  of  domestic  police 
in  a  Republic,  deserves  the  countenance  and  support  of  every  friend  of  our  free  institutions." 

"  The  tendency  of  the  Christian  religion  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  man  under  every  form  of  government  is  now  universally 
acknowledged  ;  but  its  imperative  necessity  to  the  permanence  of 
a  free  government  is  not  so  clearly  and  generally  seen.  History 
shows  that  the  Bible  is  aiding  the  advance  of  liberal  principles 
throughout  the  world.  The  spirit  of  the  resolution  directly  contra- 
dicts the  proclamation  from  the  Vatican,  that  the  object  of  the 
Bible  Societies  is  to  subvert  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ments. By  government,  we  are  to  understand  the  power  that 
makes  and  administers  law.  Every  government  has  certain  du- 
ties to  discharge ;  foremost  among  which  is  the  restraint  of  the 
passions  of  man,  the  repression  of  turbulence  and  disorder ;  and 
this  is  the  direct  object  of  a  police.  The  necessity  for  such  action 
grows  out  of  the  universal  prevalence  of  passions  that  need  to  be 
repressed.  The  form  of  this  police  depends  upon  the  genius  of 
the  people  who  are  governed.  In  a  despotic  nation,  it  is  very 
simple — consisting  merely  in  the  exercise  of  terror  and  of  force. 
So  in  decayed  and  false  republics,  like  that  of  Venice,  the  police 
has  a  secret  and  unbounded  power.  But  in  such  a  country  as 
ours,  the  problem  is  one  not  so  easily  solved.  Yet  here  it  must 
be  manifest,  that  a  vigilant  and  effective  police  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  the  prevalence  of  order  and  of  quiet.  The  unbounded 
liberty  of  speech  and  opinion  which  prevails  renders  this  essential; 
and  to  accomplish  this  object  we  must  look  to  something  more 
than  the  array  of  civil  officers.  There  is  little  in  our  form  of 
government  to  inspire  awe  or  fear  ;  it  operates  silently,  and  almost 
unnoticed.  "We  must  have  other  and  stronger  support  than  the 
array  of  authority  affords.  And  although  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  is  one  great  element  of  this  reliance,  still,  to  the  Bible,  and 


42  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

to  the  power  of  the  truths  which  it  contains,  are  we  far  more  in- 
debted than  to  any  other  cause  for  the  preservation  of  order  and 
of  peace  throughout  the  land.  Even  this  city,  with  a  vastly  in- 
creased police,  without  the  Bible,  without  the  pulpit,  without  any 
of  the  influences  that  now  flow  from  the  power  of  religious  truth, 
could  not  preserve  peace  and  order,  and  security  of  person  and  of 
property,  for  a  single  year  The  Bible  makes  a  man  afraid  to  do 
wrong ;  because  it  teaches  him  that  he  thereby  violates  the  laws 
of  his  conscience  and  his  Grod.  And  by  this  influence  alone  it 
contributes  immensely  to  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  com- 
munity. The  Bible,  moreover,  infuses  into  the  bosom  of  every 
man  a  feeling  of  self-control;  and  in  so  doing  it  lays  the  founda- 
tion for  a  simple,  thorough,  and  effective  government  of  the  coun- 
try. The  cheapness  of  this  method  of  police,  moreover,  should 
commend  it  to  the  favour  of  this  money-loving  age.  In  all  re- 
spects it  is  infinitely  superior  to  every  measure  of  secret  espionage 
to  which  a  Napoleon  or  a  Nicholas  may  resort.  The  elements  of 
such  a  moral  police,  it  is  evident,  must  be  every  where  diffused ; 
must  pervade  all  classes;  purify  all  motives,  and  inspire  every 
where  a  regard  for  justice,  and  for  the  high  and  holy  truths  of  the 
AYord  of  Grod.  To  accomplish  this,  the  Bible  must  find  its  way 
into  every  family  and  every  school-house  in  the  country.  Noth- 
ing short  of  this  will  insure  success.  Men  must  be  fed,  and 
fed  abundantly,  with  the  Bread  of  Life." 


HON.  CHEVALIER  BUNSEN,  Formerly  Prussian  Ambassador  at  Rome,  and 

NOW  AT  London. 

From  an  Address  before  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  1852. 

"  I  was  struck  most  forcibly  with  the  conclusion  of  the  report 
of  last  year,  and  particularly  with  two  remarks,  which  have  turn- 
ed out  to  be  prophetically  true.  One  was,  your  committee  said  to 
the  Christian  friends  whom  it  addressed,  that  we  had  to  expect 
greater  and  more  fierce  resistance  to  the  Bible  and  to  its  propa- 
gation than  ever ;  and  the  other  was,  that  the  impious  and 
blasphemous  contempt  of  the  "Word  of  God  which,  in  many  parts 
of  the  Continent,  during  past  years  has  burst  out  from  the  revo- 
lutionary party,  was  producing  and  would  produce  a  most  sal- 
utary Christian  reaction  upon  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  and 
that  this  would  be  proved  by  a  continued  demand  for  the  Bible, 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        43 

and  by  an  increased  issue  of  Old  and  New  Testaments,  among 
the  G-ermans  in  particular.  If  I  look  back  at  those  two  expecta- 
tions, I  am  reminded  of  what  I  had  the  honour  to  say  thirteen 
years  ago,  when  I  first  came  to  this  country,  and  had  the  privi- 
lege and  the  happiness  of  addressing  an  assembly  like  the  pres- 
ent, and  upon  a  similar  occasion.  I  then  offered  some  observa- 
tions of  the  very  same  import ;  and  we  have  certainly  lived  to 
see  them  fulfilled.  I  have  seen  in  the  report  of  last  year,  and  I 
have  heard  it  to-day,  that  there  are  but  few  agents,  compara- 
tively, employed  in  Germany.  I  hope  next  year  their  number 
will  be  increased ;  because  I  know  the  German  Christian  wishes 
the  Bible  to  be  brought  to  his  home,  not  by  the  bookseller,  or  the 
bookbinder,  or  by  men  whom  he  does  not  know,  but  by  native 
men — colporteurs — men  who  can  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that 
is  in  them,  and  can  look  on  them  and  say,  '  This  is  the  Book  on 
which  I  place  my  faith  for  this  life,  and  for  that  which  is  to 
come :  read  that  Book,  which  has  made  me  happy,  and  many 
others,  and  will  also  make  you  happy.'  Such  men  you  will  find 
in  the  Bible  Society,  and  in  that  most  excellent  and  blessed  in- 
stitution of  the  Moravian  Brethren,  to  whom  not  only  my  coun- 
try, bat  the  world  is  so  much  indebted.  My  lord,  I  would  say, 
in  conclusion,  we  shall  have  to  encounter  many  dangers ;  and  T 
will  tell  you  why  that  is  certain ;  because  the  enemies  of  religion 
and  the  Bible  know,  more  than  they  did  in  the  last  century,  that 
the  Bible  is  a  fire  which  consumes  iniquity.  There  is  a  life  and 
a  power  in  it  which  nobody  can  quench.  I  have  seen  in  a  coun- 
try where  I  have  spent  a  great  part  of  my  life,  people  who  lived 
when  Italy  was  overrun,  sixty  years  ago,  by  the  French  revolu- 
tionary armies;  and  I  have  seen  the  books  which  then  were 
asked  for,  and  which  came  in  shoals  over  the  Alps,  the  infidel 
books  of  the  Encyclopaedists  of  France  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  worst  books  that  were  ever  written.  The  people  were  sick 
of  the  Christianity  they  saw  before  them ;  they  thought  that 
there  must  be  comfort  in  the  works  of  those  who  were  opposed 
to  it.  But  before  I  left  that  country,  I  saw  myself  the  applica- 
tions which  were  made  by  thousands,  when,  by  the  revolutionary 
events  of  1830,  political  changes  took  place,  not  for  Voltaire  and 
Diderot,  but  for  the  Bible.  They  took  it,  they  hid  it,  and  they 
perused  it.     Uy  lord,  is  there  not  hope  for  us  ?     Most  of  us  will 


44  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

probably  not  see  any  kind  of  conflict ;  but  I  hope  that  our  chil- 
dren and  our  children's  children  will  see  religious  liberty,  not  only 
in  this  land  and  in  my  own  country,  but  over  the  whole  world ; 
when  the  Bible  and  the  faith  of  the  G-ospel  will  form  the  basis,  as 
it  is  the  only  basis,  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  for  the  Bible  is 
the  only  real  cement  of  nations,  and  the  only  cement  that  can 
bind  religious  hearts  together ;  and  that  this  great  and  glorious 
institution,  the  mother  of  hundreds  of  blessed  institutions  all 
over  the  world,  will  be  at  the  head  of  all,  proclaiming  the  Word 
of  God  as  the  foundation  of  all  peace  and  happiness  in  this  world, 
and  in  that  which  is  to  come." 


HOX.  EDWARD  EVERETT,  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  late  Secretary 

OF  State. 

Washington,  November  20,  1652. 

Dear  Sir  : — I  have  much  pleasure  in  complying  with  your  re- 
quest, that  I  would  express  my  opinion  of  the  importance  of  the 
Bible  in  connexion  with  the  concerns  of  political  and  public  life. 
In  this  respect,  I  am  convinced  that  very  inadequate  ideas  of  its 
value  are  entertained  by  many  persons,  who  otherwise  regard  it 
with  veneration.  They  reverence  it  as  the  record  of  our  religion, 
and  consequently  as  a  suitable  book  to  be  read  in  places  of  wor- 
ship, and  studied  by  serious  persons  in  aid  of  their  private  devo- 
tions ;  but  they  have  a  vague  notion  that  the  practical  business 
of  life  is  carried  on  without  reference  to  it,  and  that  the  Bible  is 
not  and  cannot  be  applied  to  the  management  of  what  they  call 
w^orldly  aflairs  on  a  great  or  a  small  scale. 

This  I  consider  a  very  erroneous  view,  though  it  has  been 
encouraged,  perhaps,  by  the  discrimination,  often  stated  in  the 
pulpit,  between  Religion  and  what  is  called  the  World,  as  if  their 
spheres  were  totally  distinct. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Committee  of  the  Maryland  Bible 
Society,  three  or  four  years  ago,  I  expressed  the  opinion,  that  the 
Bible  is  the  ultimate  foundation  of  the  most  characteristic  portion 
of  our  modern  European  and  American  civilization,  that  is,  of  all 
those  portions  of  our  intellectaal  and  moral  system  not  derived 
from  Greece  and  Rome,  and  not  belonging  to  us  in  common  with 
the  Mohammedan  nations  of  the  East. 

Among  these,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  class  our  whole  system  of 


To    THE    Value    oftheScriptcres.  45 

international  law.  This  is  so  certainly  Christian  in  its  origin 
and  character,  that  it  has  been  declared  by  the  highest  author- 
ities, among  others  by  Sir  William  Scott,  not  to  apply  in  all  re- 
spects to  Mohammedans.  Not  less  certainly  was  the  idea  of  a 
system  of  international  law  altogether  unknown  to  the  ancient 
Greeks,  and  but  little  more  developed  among  the  Romans,  although 
the  latter,  as  far  as  municipal  law  is  concerned,  were  eminently 
a  juridical  people. 

It  would  be  easy  to  show,  if  this  were  the  proper  place,  that  the 
religious  system  of  the  Grreeks  and  Romans — in  fact,  of  all  the 
great  states  of  antiquity — was  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  concep- 
tion of  a  great  principle  of  international  law.  Such  a  conception, 
on  the  contrary,  sprang,  by  a  moral  necessity,  from  the  new  spir- 
itual religion  taught  in  the  New  Testament.  The  public  law  of 
Christendom,  in  its  utmost  comprehension,  is  but  the  expansion 
and  application  to  the  affairs  of  nations  of  the  principle  incul- 
cated in  our  Saviour's  sermon  on  the  mount,  "All  things  what- 
soever ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them." 

As  in  its  principle,  so  in  its  literary  development  and  culture, 
the  law  of  nations  is  the  offspring  of  Christianity.  Its  first  gen- 
eral lessons  are  found  in  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.  Broader  g:en- 
eralizations  occur  in  the  writings  of  the  scholastic  divines,  min- 
gled, it  is  true,  with  grave  errors,  expressed  in  arid  formulas,  and 
buried  under  a  mass  of  subtle  distinctions  which  repel  the  modern 
student.  But  among  the  latest  of  the  writers  of  that  class,  and 
just  upon  the  dawn  of  the  Baconian  philosophy,  we  find  noble 
conceptions  of  public  law,  expressed  in  language  not  to  be  mended 
at  the  present  day.  In  this  remark,  I  have  particularly  in  view 
the  treatise  of  the  Jesuit  Suarez.  In  the  noble  title  of  his 
book,  I  find  more  significance  than  in  many  a  wordy  tome  :  "  De 
legibus,  et  Deo  Legislatore ;"  Oflaws^  ami  God  the  Laiogiver.  No 
common  mind  is  seen  in  that  combination  of  ideas.  It  compresses 
a  treatise  into  a  title  page.  There  is  no  historical  illustration, 
nor  much  forensic  reasoning  in  the  work  of  Suarez ;  but,  as  you 
might  expect  from  the  title,  the  religious  principle  of  law,  both 
in  the  general,  and  all  its  kinds,  is  well  laid  down.  To  those  who 
deplore  the  divisions  in  the  great  household  of  Christian  faith, 
(and  who  does  not  ?)  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  see  how  little 


46  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

there  is  in  this  work  of  a  Spanish  Jesuit  from  which  any  serious 
Protestant  would  dissent.  It  is  quite  a  curious  fact,  first  pointed 
out,  I  believe,  by  Mr.  Hallam,  that  the  celebrated  and  constantly 
quoted  passage  on  the  universality  of  law,  at  the  close  of  the  first 
book  of  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  is  found,  substantially,  in 
the  work  of  Suarez. 

Grotius,  the  great  founder  of  our  modern  science  of  interna- 
tional law,  was  a  most  assiduous  student  of  the  Bible.  His  com- 
mentary upon  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  pronounced  by  Leib- 
nitz the  best  work  of  its  class,  is,  as  far  as  I  may  venture  to  give 
an  opinion  on  such  a  subject,  still  entitled  to  that  praise.  I  do 
not,  of  course,  refer  to  his  exposition  of  a  few  contested  doctrinal 
texts,  but  to  the  learning,  ingenuity,  and  good  sense  with  which 
he  illustrates  the  whole  body  of  Scripture.  He  was  a  profoundly 
religious  man.  The  foundations  of  his  immortal  treatise  on  the 
Law  of  Nations  are  laid  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament ;  and  the  original  conception  of  the  work  was  in  the 
genuine  spirit  of  Christian  philanthropy.  His  golden  treatise 
on  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  was  intended  by  him  as  a 
manual  for  his  adventurous  fellow  citizens,  then  just  engaging  in 
the  trade  with  the  East ;  by  the  aid  of  which  they  might  scatter 
the  seeds  of  sacred  truth  on  distant  and  heathen  shores.  That  it 
might  be  the  more  easily  remembered,  he  wrote  it  in  verse,  and 
in  his  native  language,  (the  Dutch,)  at  a  time  when  all  treatises  of 
this  kind  were  composed  in  Latin. 

I  scarce  know  of  a  more  beautiful  illustration  of  the  adaptation 
of  the  religion  of  the  Bible  to  the  purposes  of  active  life,  than  is 
thus  afforded  by  this  model  Christian  statesman,  who,  on  the  one 
hand,  continually  fortifies  the  maxims  of  the  public  law  by  Scrip- 
ture authority ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  composed  a  treatise  on 
the  evidences  of  Christianity,  to  be  used  by  his  seafaring  country- 
men in  their  voyages  to  remote  regions. 

One  great  end,  I  may  say,  the  chief  end,  of  the  law  of  na- 
tions, is  to  protect  weak  states  against  the  strong.  Just  in 
proportion  as  that  one  text  of  Scripture  which  I  have  already 
quoted — Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  unto 
you — is  observed  by  governments  in  their  intercourse  with  each 
other,  this  end  is  accomplished.  It  says  to  the  powerful  state, 
"  Treat  that  weak  neighbour  as  you  would  like  to  be  treated,  if 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        47 

he  were  strong,  and  you  were  weak."  This  one  rule  is  worth  all 
Yattel ;  or,  rather,  all  diplomacy  which  deserves  the  name  is  ulti- 
mately resolvable  into  this  maxim. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Faithfully  yours, 

Edward  Everett. 


HO:Nr.  W>L  C.  RIYES,  United  States  MI^^STER  to  France. 

Paris,  November  4th,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  19th 
ultimo,  requesting  the  communication  of  any  opinions  which 
observation  or  reflection  may  have  led  me  to  form  on  the  connex- 
ion between  civil  and  political  liberty,  and  the  study  and  rever- 
ence of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  On  this  subject  I  have  long  enter- 
tained the  deepest  convictions ;  and  though  I  have  no  leisure  to 
embody  my  thoughts  in  a  suitable  form  of  expression,  I  cannot 
withhold  my  testimony,  however  imperfectly  given,  from  a  great 
cause  in  which  the  interests  of  humanity  every  where,  and  the 
future  destinies  of  my  own  country  especially,  are,  as  I  believe, 
vitally  involved. 

Many  and  ingenious  speculations  have  been  given  to  the  world 
to  account  for  the  repeated  and  disastrous  failure  of  the  successive 
attempts  which  have  been  made,  during  the  last  seventy  years,  to 
establish  and  sustain  a  system  of  free  government  in  this  country. 
However  numerous  and  various  the  secondary  causes  to  which 
this  melancholy  and  remarkable  fact  may  be  ascribed,  the  one 
efficient  and  primary  cause,  I  am  convinced,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
general  eradication  from  the  national  mind  of  divine  truth  and 
divine  authority,  by  the  philosophy,  "  falsely  so  called,"  of  the 
last  century,  which  had  its  origin,  and  has  continued  to  maintain 
its  fatal  influence  here.  The  French  nation  has  not  been  wanting 
in  many  of  the  circumstances  ordinarily  deemed  the  most  essen- 
tial to  the  practice  and  support  of  free  government.  They  have 
undoubtedly  had,  in  their  successive  essays  at  constitutional  lib- 
erty, the  aid  and  direction  of  many  men  of  great  and  distinguish- 
ed talents,  in  a  worldly  sense,  both  in  the  cabinet  and  the  senate. 
Nor  are  the  mass  of  the  people  so  ignorant  and  uninformed  on 
general  topics  as  is  by  some  imagined.     With  the  exception  of 


48  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

the  mere  rural  labourers,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  any  country 
in  which  the  population  engaged  in  the  ordinary  industrious  call- 
ings of  life  are  more  intelligent,  nimble- witted,  and  even  exer- 
cised in  readins:  of  certain  kinds. 

There  is  one  book,  however,  which  remains  sealed,  for  the  most 
part,  to  all  classes  of  society,  and  that  is  the  Book  of  eternal  wis- 
dom, with  all  its  precious  lessons  of  duty  to  G-od  and  man,  of 
temperance,  of  moderation,  of  self-control,  of  conscientious  obe- 
dience to  the  '•  still  small  voice"  within.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  the 
agitations  and  struggles  inseparable  from  the  existence  of  civil 
and  political  freedom,  abandoned  to  the  infirmities  of  our  com- 
mon nature,  without  the  chastening  discipline  of  the  G-ospel,  they 
have  had  no  internal  strength  to  fortify  and  keep  them  erect 
against  the  disturbing  influences  from  without,  and  to  restrain 
the  violence  and  fury  of  the  passions ;  no  monitor  to  recall  them, 
from  time  to  time,  from  the  eagerness  of  their  worldly  contentions 
and  pursuits  to  the  recollection  of  their  immortal  destinies  and 
responsibilities ;  no  standard  of  infallible  truth  by  which  to  try 
the  inventions  of  mere  human  reason.  And  thus  have  we  seen 
in  so  many  instances  in  this  country  a  fitful  and  spurious  liberty 
degenerating  into  license  and  crime,  or  torn  and  distracted  by 
factions,  or  frightening  mankind  by  the  proclamation  of  new  and 
disorganizing  theories,  to  be  swallowed  up  at  last  in  a  degrading 
and  relentless  despotism. 

The  lesson  which  the  melancholy  experience  of  France  teaches 
on  this  subject  is  one  of  universal  application.  The  blessings  of 
a  free  popular  government  cannot,  I  am  convinced,  be  long  pre- 
served any  where  but  by  the  influence  and  discipline  of  the 
Christian  religion  deeply  implanted  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  all 
classes  of  society.  In  proportion  to  the  amount  of  power  exer- 
cised by  the  body  of  the  people,  should  they  be  constantly  anima- 
ted and  guided  by  higher  and  purer  principles  of  action,  in  order 
to  guard  that  power  from  abuse  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  danger 
of  subversion  on  the  other.  Power,  in  whatsoever  hands  depos- 
ited, is  an  awful  trust.  One  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  political 
wisdom  in  ancient  or  modern  times ^'  has  said,  ^'  That  all  persons 
possessing  any  portion  of  power  ought  to  be  strongly  and  awfully 
impressed  with  an  idea  that  they  act  in  trusty  and  that  they  are 

^  Burke. 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        49 

to  account  for  their  conduct  in  that  trust  to  the  one  Great  Mas- 
ter, author,  and  founder  of  society." 

In  a  free  popular  government,  then,  where  all  power  is  primar- 
ily lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  how  vital  the  necessity  that 
this  sense  of  responsibility  should  be  fortified  and  enforced,  in  the 
minds  of  both  the  people  and  their  agents,  by  those  solemn  sanc- 
tions which  the  Word  of  Grod  only  can  supply.  There  is  no  solid 
security  but  this,  in  the  greatest  of  all  human  trusts,  against  the 
temptations  and  delusions  of  ambition,  against  the  violence  or 
sophistry  of  the  passions,  the  seductions  of  interest,  and  the 
blunders  of  a  shallow  and  short-sighted  self-sufficiency.  Build 
upon  this  sure  foundation — the  records  of  Divine  Truth  in  the 
hands  and  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  as  the  ever  present  rule  and 
guide  of  life — and  the  rain  of  adversity  may  descend,  and  the 
floods  of  temptation  come,  and  the  winds  of  passion  blow  and 
beat  upon  that  house,  and  it  will  fall  not ;  for  it  is  founded  on  a 
rock.  Upon  any  other  foundation  the  presumptuous  fabric  will 
be  like  the  house  of  the  "  foolish  man"  who  built  upon  the  satid^ 
and  when  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 
blew  and  beat  upon  that  house,  it  fell ;  and  great  was  the  fall  of  it. 

If  this  be  so,  and  that  it  is  I  am  most  deeply  and  thoroughly 
convinced,  there  would  be  matter  for  the  most  serious  apprehen- 
sion in  what  you  tell  me  of  the  growing  tendency  to  infidelity  in 
a  portion  of  the  periodical  literature  of  our  country,  did  I  not  per- 
suade myself  that  the  poison  will  meet  an  eftectual  antidote  in 
the  firm  religious  cast  and  habits  of  the  American  mind.  It  is 
this  national  sobriety  and  steadiness  of  principle  which  has 
hitherto  preserved  us  from  impious  and  dangerous  novelties  that 
would,  at  the  same  time,  sap  our  liberties  and  our  faith.  The 
holy  religion,  before  which  the  mighty  intellects  of  Bacon,  and 
IN'ewton,  and  Locke,  bowed  in  reverential  acknowledgment  and 
submission,  should  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  assaults,  open  or 
disguised,  of  modern  witlings. 

Let  the  educated  young  men  of  our  country,  who  are  now  pre- 
paring themselves  for  a  course  of  political  usefulness,  recollect 
what  the  greatest  genius  and  scholar  of  our  race,^  after  having 
amassed  all  the  treasures  of  human  learning,  ancient  and  mod- 
ern, said  of  the  Bible,  as  a  book  of  political  wisdom,  compared 

*  Milton. 
4 


50  Testimony    of    Distixguished    Laymen 

with  the  most  renowned  writings  of  professed  philosophers,  states- 
men, and  orators : 

"  But  herein  to  our  Prophets  far  beneath, 
As  men  divinelj^  taught,  and  better  teaching 
The  soUd  rules  of  civil  government 
In  their  majestic,  unaffected  style, 
Than  all  the  oratory  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
In  them  is  plainest  taught  and  easiest  learnt 
What  makes  a  nation  happy,  and  keeps  it  so, 
What  ruins  kingdoms,  and  lays  cities  flat." 

Let  them  call  to  mind  the  solemn  and  impressive  terms  in 
which  the  same  inspired  patriot  and  lover  of  republican  liberty 
describes  the  duties  of  the  statesman,  and  the  divine  helps  he  so 
constantly  needs.  ''  To  make,"  he  says,  ''the  anxious  mind  and 
thoughts  penetrate  the  remotest  quarters — to  watch,  to  foresee,  to 
decline  no  labour,  to  spurn  every  blandishment  of  pleasure — these 
are  those  arduous  tasks,  in  comparison  with  which  war  is  but 
sport ;  these  will  winnow  and  sift  you ;  these  require  a  man 
supported  by  the  Divine  assistance  ;  a  man  advised,  warned,  and 
instructed  almost  by  a  conference  with  the  Deity." 

Here  are  noble  sentiments  and  precepts,  which  commend  them- 
selves to  the  hearts  of  Christian  patriots  and  freemen.  They 
point  out  the  path  of  safety  and  true  glory  to  states,  as  well  as 
of  duty  and  happiness  to  individuals.  "  Li  keeping  of  them,  there 
is  great  reward ;"  and  my  humble  prayer  is,  that  our  land,  hither- 
to so  blessed  by  Providence,  will  through  long  ages  present  to  the 
nations  the  example  of  a  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord,  and 
whose  liberties  are  devoutly  placed  beneath  the  shadow  of  his 
almighty  wings. 

I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  most  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

W.  C.  Rives. 

HON.  JOHjS"  McLEAX,  of  Ohio,  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

Chapel  Wood,  November  4,  1652. 

G-ENTLEMEN  : — I  am  requested  to  say  something  as  to ,  the 
wholesome  influence  of  the  Bible  on  our  social  and  civil  life.  I 
agree  with  the  sentiment  expressed,  that  a  "wide-spread,  open 
infidelity,  if  uncorrected,  must  ere  long  put  in  peril  all  our  free 
institutions." 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        51 

No  one  can  estimate  or  describe  the  salutary  influences  of  the 
Bible.  What  would  the  world  be  without  it?  Compare  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth,  where  the  light  of  the  Gospel  has  not  penetra- 
ted, with  those  where  it  has  been  proclaimed,  and  embraced  in  all 
its  purity. 

Life  and  immortality  arc  brought  to  light  by  the  Scriptures. 
Aside  from  Revelation,  darkness  rests  upon  this  world,  and  upon 
the  future.  There  is  no  ray  of  light  to  shine  upon  our  pathway  ; 
there  is  no  star  of  hope.  We  begin  our  speculations  as  to  our 
destiny  in  conjecture,  and  they  end  in  uncertainty.  We  know, 
not  that  there  is  a  God,  a  heaven,  or  a  hell,  or  any  day  of  gen- 
eral account,  when  the  wicked  and  the  righteous  shall  be  judged. 

The  Bible  has  shed  a  glorious  light  upon  our  world.  It  shows 
us  that  in  a  coming  day  we  must  answer  for  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body.  It  has  opened  up  to  us  a  new  and  living  way,  so  plain- 
ly marked  that  no  one  can  mistake  it.  The  price  paid  for  our 
redemption  shows  the  value  of  our  immortal  souls. 

The  Bible  has  given  us  a  sublime  and  pure  morality,  of  whicli 
the  world  was  a  stranger.  Before  this,  there  was  no  fixed  stand- 
ard of  morals.  Certain  rules  were  observed  among  some  nations, 
which,  to  some  extent,  restrained  the  selfishness  of  human  na- 
ture ;  but  they  rested  upon  imaginary  foundations,  and  they  tol- 
erated acts  inconsistent  with  a  pure  morality.  Self-destruction 
was  not  only  an  admitted  principle  in  that  code,  but  it  received 
public  commendation.  And  tliere  were  other  acts  allowed,  if  not 
equally  false  and  destructive,  were  repugnant  to  the  advancement 
of  the  social  condition. 

No  system  out  of  the  Bible  recognizes  an  omniscient  pov^^er 
which  scrutinizes  the  actions  of  men,  and,  looking  behind  the  act, 
takes  cognizance  of  the  motive.  This  was  a  new  principle  to  the 
world;  and  it  is  the  one  by  which  we  shall  be  judged. 

The  laws  which  belong  to  the  social  relation  are  found  in  the 
Bible.  The  duties  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  and  all 
other  connexions  which  necessarily  belong  to  a  refined  civiliza- 
tion, are  prescribed  in  the  Scriptures.  We  are  commanded  to 
love  our  neighbour,  and  in  all  things  "  to  do  unto  others  as  we 
should  wish  them  to  do  unto  us."  If  these  rules  were  faithfully 
observed  by  individuals  and  communities,  the  highest  degree  of 
earthly  happiness  would  be  attained.  , 


52  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

For  our  unparalleled  advance  in  civilization  and  physical  pros- 
perity, our  country  is  mainly  indebted  to  the  Bible.  Our  free  in- 
stitutions are  the  fruits  of  religious  persecution.  With  the  Bible 
in  their  hands,  and  the  love  of  Grod  in  their  hearts,  the  Pilgrims 
sought  a  resting-place  on  this  continent.  And  in  the  process  of 
time,  under  the  same  principles  and  motives,  they  resolved  to  be 
free  and  independent.  Having  that  wisdom  which  comes  of  ex- 
perience, they  formed  a  government  to  secure  and  perpetuate  the 
great  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
.  How  is  this  government  to  be  transmitted  in  its  purity  and 
vigour  to  those  who  shall  come  after  us  ?  This  can  only  be  done 
by  the  use  of  the  same  means  through  which  it  was  established 
We  must  not  be  forgetful  of  the  G-od  of  our  fathers.  We  must 
respect  and  obey  his  laws.  The  morality  of  the  Bible  must  con- 
tinue to  be  the  basis  of  our  government.  There  is  no  other  foun- 
dation for  free  institutions.  I  say  this  emphatically,  and  from  the 
deepest  conviction  of  its  truth.  This  morality  is  an  element  of 
which  the  free  governments  of  the  Old  World  had  no  knowledge. 
It  is  the  ground,  and  the  only  ground,  on  which  my  hope  of  this 
government  rests.  And  I  tremble  when  I  see  a  departure  from 
this  highway  of  liberty.  Recently  as  our  government  has  been 
established,  there  have  already  been  many  departures  from  this 
vital  principle. 

Let  any  one  who  doubts  this  compare  the  action  of  the  govern- 
ment of  this  day  w^ith  that  of  its  earlier  date.  Are  our  politicians 
now  as  pure,  and  elevated,  and  patriotic  as  politicians  then  were  ? 
Ai'e  they  as  well  qualified  to  discharge  high  and  important  pub- 
lic duties  as  our  leading  men  were  of  the  past  generation  ?  Has 
not  a  low  and  selfish  policy  been  substituted  for  the  interests  of 
the  country  ?  Is  not  the  power  of  the  state  wielded  by  a  few,  by 
party  machinery  ?  What  can  be  more  corrupting  than  such  a 
state  of  things  ?  It  has  been  fatal  to  all  free  governments  which 
have  heretofore  existed,  and,  unless  checked,  will  be  fatal  to  ours. 

The  great  moral  principle  of  action  applies  equally  to  private 
and  public  life,  to  individuals,  communities,  and  nations.  And 
this  rule  cannot  be  violated  without  incurring  guilt.  We  should 
not  forget  that  there  is  a  Judge  of  nations  as  well  as  of  individ- 
uals, and,  although  He  may  bear  long,  his  judgment  will  come. 

How  beautiful  is  our  government  in  theory,  and  how  potent  for 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        53 

good  would  it  be  if  administered  in  all  things  according  to  its 
spirit.  It  would  soon  embody  a  moral  power  which  would  shake 
the  thrones  of  tyranny  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Here  lies 
our  strength— our  power  to  break  the  bonds  of  despotism.  But, 
alas!  alas!  a  strange  voice  is  heard  in  the  land.  It  is  a  voice 
miscalled  progress.  A  voice  in  defiance  of  the  admonitions  of 
Washington,  and  of  all  the  fathers  of  the  republic.  A  voice  of 
war  and  bloodshed.  War  uncalled  for  by  any  redress  of  injuries, 
or  by  the  national  honour,  but  to  subvert  and  overturn  the  govern- 
ments of  neighbouring  countries  in  defiance  of  our  settled  and 
avowed  policy,  and  in  contempt  of  our  own  laws.  Are  not  the 
words  of  our  Saviour  true,  "  For  all  they  that  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  with  the  sword?"  These  words  have  never  yet  been 
falsified,  and  never  will  be.  When  this  policy  shall  be  adopted, 
it  will  be  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  our  glorious  government. 
With  the  greatest  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

John  McLean. 


HOK  SIMON"  GREEN'LEAF,  late  Law  Professor   in  Cambridge   University, 

Mass. 

Cambridge,  November  6th,  1852. 

GrENTLEMEN  : — I  havc  received  the  communication  of  your  Sec- 
retary, of  October  20,  containing  the  highly  gratifying  intelligence 
that  an  increased  effort  is  about  to  be  made  for  the  more  general 
distribution  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  cannot  refrain  from  ex- 
pressing the  thankfulness  I  feel  for  this  intelligence.  AVhatever 
is  done  in  this  direction  is  done  for  the  happiness  and  the  best  in- 
terest of  our  country.  The  experience  of  all  ages  has  taught  us 
that  republican  institutions  can  have  no  permanent  basis  but  in 
the  moral  virtue  of  the  people.  Intelligence  alone  has  proved  in- 
sufficient for  this  purpose.  "  Intellect  without  principle"  is  the 
attribute  of  the  worst  of  beings.  Despotism  may  exist  independ- 
ent of  morality ;  but  republics  soon  perish  when  the  people  be- 
come corrupt.  The  efforts  of  Christian  patriots,  therefore,  must 
be  directed  to  elevate  and  sustain  the  moral  character  of  our 
citizens ;  and  no  method  is  so  efficient  to  this  end  as  to  imbue 
them  with  the  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  the  Bible.  Of  its  Di- 
vine character,  I  think  no  man  who  deals  honestly  with  his  own 


54  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

mind  and  heart  can  entertain  a  reasonable  doubt.  For  myself,  I 
must  say,  that  having  for  many  years  made  the  evidences  of 
Christianity  the  subject  of  close  and  patient  study,  the  result  has 
been  a  firm  and  increasing  conviction  of  the  authenticity  and 
plenary  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  It  is  indeed  the  Word  of  G-od. 
It  opens  up  to  our  view  the  only  true  source  of  moral  obligation, 
or  of  public  and  private  duty,  and  enforces  these  with  the  only 
sanctions  that  can  affect  the  mind,  and  reach  the  conscience  of 
man;  namely,  the  omniscience,  and  goodness,  and  mercy  of  Grod, 
and  the  certain  retributions  of  the  life  to  come.  Without  these 
sanctions,  the  laws  are  no  longer  observed ;  oaths  lose  their  hold  on 
the  conscience;  promises  are  violated;  frauds  are  multiplied,  and 
moral  obligation  is  dissolved.  And  these  securities  natural  reli- 
gion does  not  furnish  :  they  are  found  in  the  Bible  alone.  In  sub- 
limity of  thought,  in  grandeur  of  conception,  in  purity  and  eleva- 
tion of  moral  principle,  in  the  practical  wisdom  of  its  teachings, 
and  the  universality  and  perpetuity  of  their  application,  and, 
above  all,  in  the  high  and  important  character  of  its  themes,  the 
Holy  Bible  is  not  even  approached  by  any  human  composition. 
It  is  only  this  tliat  can  make  men  wise  unto  salvation. 

Our  republican  institutions  have  been  the  admiration  of  in- 
telligent men  of  all  nations,  both  for  the  profound  wisdom  exhib- 
ited in  their  construction,  and  for  the  success  with  which  they 
have  been  administered.  But  it  should  never  be  forgotten,  that 
these  foundations  were  laid  by  men  trained  with  the  Bible  in 
their  hands  as  their  household  book,  and  the  book  of  their  com- 
mon schools,  and  early  taught  to  hold  its  precepts  in  deep  rever- 
ence as  the  rule  of  their  conduct  in  after  life.  This  made  them 
what  they  were,  and  led  our  nation  to  its  present  height  of  pros- 
perity and  renown.  I  am  deeply  convinced,  that  the  continuance 
of  these  blessings  and  the  happiness  of  the  whole  people  will  de- 
pend mainly  on  the  degree  in  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  fa- 
miliarly studied  and  known,  and  held  in  reverence  by  each  mem- 
ber of  the  community.  The  distribution,  therefore,  of  the  Bible, 
and  its  introduction  into  all  the  schools,  belongs  to  the  highest 
class  of  patriotic  duties.  While  others  are  administering  the 
constitution  and  the  laws,  your  labours  supply  the  vital  element 
of  them  both  ;  and  in  the  consciousness  of  this  you  doubtless  find 
one  of  the  highest  incentives  to  perseverance  in  the  glorious  work. 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        55 

Trusting  that  this  free  expression  of  my  views  of  this  subject 
may  find  its  apology  in  the  wish  of  the  Secretary  that  I  would  so 
express  them,  permit  me  to  remain, 

"With  the  highest  respect,  gentlemen, 

Your  faithful  servant, 

Simon  Gtreenleaf. 


HOX.  WM.  H.  SEWARD,  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

"AUBURX,  November  4th,  1852. 

"What  is  that  which  has  enabled  the  Scriptures  of  the  Jews  to 
supplant  all  other  writings  of  antiquity,  and  to  maintain  an  au- 
thority and  veneration  unapproachable  by  even  modern  learning? 
It  is  the  fact  that  they  describe  the  Creator  and  man  more  ac- 
curately according  to  the  standard  of  enlightened  reason,  and  de- 
fine the  relations  between  them  more  justly  according  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  human  heart.  I  am  asked,  what  is  my  opinion 
of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  on  human  society?  I 
answer,  that  I  do  not  believe  human  society,  including  not  merely 
a  few  persons  in  any  state,  but  whole  masses  of  men,  ever  has 
attained,  or  ever  can  attain,  a  high  state  of  intelligence,  virtue, 
security,  liberty,  or  happiness,  without  them  ;  and  that  the  whole 
hope  of  human  progress  is  suspended  on  the  ever-growing  influ- 
ence of  the  Bible." 

The  writer  of  the  above,  when  G-overnor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  in  1S39,  being  present  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  made  then,  in  a  brief  address,  the  following 
statement,  which  is  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  now  ad- 
vanced : 

"  He  would  offer  to  the  assembly  but  one  suggestion :  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  established  a  republican  form  of 
government  for  the  free  people  of  this  Union  ;  and  it  had  ordained 
that  once  in  every  ten  years  the  number  of  souls  under  the  pro- 
tection of  that  Constitution,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  freedom 
which  it  secured,  should  be  ascertained,  in  order  that  their  polit- 
ical rights  should  be  secured,  and  that  each  portion  of  the  country 
should  enjoy  its  just  and  proper  proportion  of  power.  He  knew 
not  how  long  a  republican  form  of  government  could  flourish 
among  a  people  who  had  not  the  Bible  :  the  experiment  had  never 
been  tried;  but  this  he  did  know,  that  the  existing  government 


o6  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

of  this  country  never  could  have  had  an  existence  but  for  the  Bi- 
ble. And  further :  he  did  in  his  conscience  believe,  that  if  at 
every  decade  of  years  a  copy  of  the  Bible  should  be  found  in 
every  family  of  the  land,  its  republican  institutions  would  be  per- 
petual." 

HOK  DAYID  SWAIN,  formerly  Goyerxor  of  North  Carolina,  now  President 
OF  THE  State  University. 

I  was  incited  by  pious  parents  to  the  frequent  perusal  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  my  childhood.  The  foundation  of  a  habit  laid 
so  early  by  such  hands  has  been  strengthened  by  the  lapse  of 
time.  Some  years  since,  influenced  by  the  suggestion  of  the 
younger  Adams  to  his  son,  I  determined  to  read  the  Sacred  Vol- 
ume through  once  a  year,  by  assigning  five  chapters  as  the  ordi- 
nary and  appropriate  duty  of  each  day.  In  the  regular  prosecu- 
tion of  this  diurnal  course,  my  attention  is  at  present  directed  to 
the  G-ospels,  and  I  find  my  interest  in  them  increased,  and  my 
knowledge  systematized,  by  the  use  of  G-reenleaf  s  and  Lord's 
Harmonies,  the  most  recent  works  of  this  character  which  have 
fallen  into  my  hands. 

During  the  seventeen  years  that  I  have  been  connected  with 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  it  has  been  a  part  of  my  routine 
of  duty  to  hear  a  recitation  of  the  senior  class  every  Sabbath  day 
throughout  the  scholastic  year.  I  have  uniformly  availed  myself 
of  this  opportunity  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  class,  sometimes 
by  systematic  instruction  in  the  text,  and  always  by  frequent 
references,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  the  encouragement  of 
those  engaged  in  like  pursuits,  and  as  an  inducement  to  others  to 
enter  upon  this  branch  of  instruction,  I  state  as  the  result  of  ex- 
perience thus  derived,  that  there  is  no  portion  of  my  duties  the 
discharge  of  which  has  been  more  pleasant  to  me,  or,  in  my 
opinion,  so  profitable  to  the  classes.  I  have  indeed  been  agreeably 
surprised  in  many  instances,  not  merely  by  the  punctuality  of 
attendance,  but  the  cheerfulness  and  earnestness  with  which 
young  men  have  entered  into  these  recitations  who  had  little  pre- 
vious familiarity  with  such  subjects. 

Similar  results  will,  I  am  satisfied,  follow  faithful  instruction 
every  where.  If  a  skeptic  even  were  to  engage  sincerely  in  the 
performance  of  such  a  duty,  the  declaration  of  our  Saviour,  that 


To    THE    Value    of    the    Scriptures.  57 

"  if  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine," 
might  find  a  practical  exemplification. 

If  the  Scriptures  are  true,  they  are  a  revelation,  and  the  only 
revelation,  from  the  most  high  God  upon  the  most  important 
subject  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  man.  They  are  there- 
fore not  merely  of  great,  but  of  inconceivable  interest  and  im- 
portance. But  supposing  them  to  be  false,  have  they  no  claims 
to  the  consideration  of  the  scholar  and  the  philosopher  ? 

The  antiquary  will  turn  with  no  ordinary  curiosity  to  the  ear- 
liest complete  volume  that  remains  to  us  of  ancient  manuscript, 
and  the  first  that  issued  from  the  press  after  the  invention  of 
printing.  The  historian,  if  he  regards  it  of  no  higher  authority 
than  Herodotus,  will  prize  it  as  the  precursor  of  that  author,  and 
the  foundation  of  his  department.  The  statesman  will  trace  the 
outlines  of  the  earliest  legislation  and  jurisprudence  known  to  his- 
tory, and  the  most  perfect  moral  code  of  any  age  or  country. 
The  lawyer,  in  the  details  of  the  professional  pursuits  which  en- 
gage his  attention  through  life,  will  meet  with  many  pertinent 
examples  and  instructions :  "  And  Abram  said  to  the  King  of 
Sodom,  I  have  lifted  up  mine  hand  unto  the  Lord,  the  most  high 
God,  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I  will  not  take  from 
a  thread  even  to  a  shoelatchet,  and  that  I  will  not  take  any  thing 
that  is  thine,  lest  thou  shouldest  say,  I  have  made  Abram  rich." 
Swearing  "  with  the  uplifted  hand,"  as  practised  by  Abram 
thirty-seven  centuries  ago,  is  recognized  by  the  earliest  enact- 
ment on  our  statute  book  subsequent  to  the  adoption  of  our 
State  Constitution,  as  the  proper  mode  to  be  observed  by  those 
who  have  scruples  about  taking  a  book  oath.  The  model  of 
a  feoffment  in  the  purchase  of  the  field  of  Ephron,  "the  field, 
and  the  cave  which  was  therein,  and  all  the  trees  that  were  in 
the  field,  that  were  in  all  the  borders  round  about,"  will  not 
escape  the  attention  of  the  lawyer ;  and  the  political  economist 
will  observe  in  the  recital  of  the  consideration  the  earliest  in- 
stance recorded  in  history  of  the  use  of  the  precious  metals  as  a 
medium  of  exchange:  "And  Abraham  hearkened  unto  Ephron; 
and  Abraham  weighed  to  Ephron  the  silver,  which  he  had  named 
in  the  audience  of  the  sons  of  Heth,  four  hundred  shekels  of  sil- 
ver, current  money  with  the  merchant."  These  references  are 
confined  to  the  first  book  of  the  Old  Testament,  a  book  which,  in 


58  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

the  compass  of  fifty  chapters,  comprised  in  an  equal  number  of 
ordinary  octavo  pages,  contains  all  that  is  known  of  the  world  be- 
fore the  Flood  ;  of  the  history  of  the  human  race  during  nearly  as 
many  centuries  as  have  elapsed  since  the  advent  of  our  Saviour. 

If  the  history  of  the  miracles  which  are  relied  upon  as  estab- 
lishing the  authenticity  of  Revelation  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  cun- 
ningly devised  fable,  no  higher  or  more  interesting  exercise  for 
logical  acumen  and  metaphysical  research  can  be  proposed  to  the 
mental  philosopher,  than  to  detect  and  expose  the  subtle  fallacy 
which  deluded  the  minds  of  Bacon  and  Newton,  and  Milton  and 
Locke,  and  continues  to  the  present  time  to  exert  a  controlling 
influence  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many  estimable  and 
amiable  men. 

COMMODORE  SKmNER,  United  States  I^ayy. 

Washington,  October  30th,  1852. 

I  am  asked  my  sentiments  as  to  the  value  of  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, and  their  bearing  on  civil  and  social  life.  It  affords  me 
heartfelt  pleasure  to  bear  my  feeble  testimony  to  their  blessed 
influence  on  communities  and  individuals  by  whom  they  are  re- 
ceived and  embraced  as  a  revelation  by  G-od  to  man,  of  himself, 
his  attributes,  and  his  will;  teaching  man  his  duty  to  his  Creator 
and  to  his  fellow-men;  admonishing  him  of  his  weakness  and 
helplessness ;  pointing  out  the  only  source  from  which  he  can  de- 
rive help,  and  graciously  promising  to  bestow  it  on  all  who  call 
upon  him  in  truth.  They  also  teach,  that  to  derive  all  the  benefit 
which  Grod  designed  to  bestow  in  revealing  himself  to  his  fallen 
creatures,  man,  on  his  part,  must  strive  to  do  God's  will.  Let 
man  do  this,  and  he  will  know  Avhether  the  Bible  is  the  "Word  of 
G-od  or  a  cunningly  devised  fable.  Men  of  any  experience  and 
observation  must  have  seen  those  who  have  been  reclaimed  from 
a  profane  and  immoral  course  of  conduct,  to  sobriety,  truth,  piety, 
and  happiness,  by  studying  and  obeying  the  Sacred  Oracles  of 
eternal  truth.  Nor  do  I  believe  there  can  be  any  solid  happiness 
in  this  world,  or  the  world  to  come,  unless  derived  from  that  holy 
religion  contained  in  the  Sacred  Volume.  Observation  shows  us, 
that  men  in  the  enjoyment  of  health  may  smother  conscience, 
and  sneer  at  relis^ion  in  fancied  securitv ;  but  when  the  hour  of 
death  arrives,  the  honest  hour,  the  world  receding,  and  all  the 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        59 

props  on  whicli  he  leaned  for  support  are  falling  round  him,  how 
changed  is  the  scene  then;  how  bitterly  he  laments  that  he 
neglected  to  call  on  God  when  he  was  near,  and  did  not  seek 
him  while  he  was  to  be  found.  We  have  all  seen  such  thinofs ; 
and  yet  how  many  are  pursuing  the  same  course,  deterred  by 
the  jeers  of  the  ungodly  from  closing  with  the  offers  of  salvation 
contained  in  the  Bible.  Let  all  such  remember  that  the  hour  of 
death  will  come ;  and  that  an  everlasting  separation  will  take 
place  between  those  who  served  God,  and  those  who  served  him 
not. 

It  behooves  all  the  friends  of  religion,  at  this  particular  juncture, 
while  infidelity  is  stalking  through  the  land,  to  do  all  in  their 
power,  with  the  help  of  God,  to  stay  the  destructive  influences  of 
a  moral  poison  that  threatens  to  destroy  all  that  is  dear  to  us  as 
Christians  and  as  men. 

I  am,  respectfully, 

Charles  AY.  Skinner. 


COLONEL  LOOMIS,  United  States  Army. 

Fort  Belknap,  Texas,  December  11,  1&'52. 

Gentlemen  : — My  opinion  of  the  Sacred  Volume  is,  that  it  is 
to  a  nation,  as  the  keystone  to  the  arch.  No  nation  can  long  ex- 
ist in  peace  that  does  not  respect  it.  It  carries  peace  and  happi- 
ness into  every  society  where  its  precepts  are  loved,  and  its  com- 
mands obeyed.  To  the  young  its  value  and  importance  are  be- 
yond compare.  From  my  own  experience,  I  believe,  that  if  the 
young  will  take  it  as  their  guide — make  it  the  "man  of  their 
counsel,"  it  will  lead  them  in  ways  of  wisdom,  and  guide  them 
into  paths  of  peace  ;  and  that  all  who  obey  its  precepts  in  their 
journey  through  life  will  be  respectful  and  obedient  children, 
good  and  respected  fathers  and  mothers,  and  good  and  honoured 
members  of  society.  All  will  find  it  in  this  life  a  never-failing 
source  of  comfort  and  consolation ;  and  it  will  lead  them  in  sure 
paths  to  mansions  of  bliss,  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  smiles  and 
his  presence,  who  is  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life. 

May  the  American  Bible  Society  be  an  honoured  instrument  to 
disseminate  the  Sacred  Volume,  so  that  it  may  be  found  in  every 
part  and  in  every  family,  and  with  every  individual  of  our  land, 
shedding  its  benign  influence  upon  every  heart,  and  extending 


60  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

to  all  lands,  until  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowl- 
edge and  glory  of  God  our  Saviour.  "  To  Him  be  glory,  both 
now  and  for  ever.      Amen." 

Very  truly  yours,  in  the  best  of  bonds, 

S.  LooMis. 


HOK  JOSEPH  HENRY  LUMPKIN,  Chief  Justice  of  Georgia. 

Athens,  Novembei  4th,  IS52. 

Gentlemen: — You  ask  my  opinion  "as  to  the  value  of  the 
Bible,  particularly  in  its  bearings  on  civil  and  social  life." 

Would  that  1  could  speak  of  this  olde&t  and  best  of  books  as  it 
deserves !  As  the  king  among  his  subjects,  as  the  sun  among 
the  stars,  so  is  the  Bible  compared  with  every  other  book. 
"Would  that  I  could  induce  others  to  prize  as  it  deserves,  a  vol- 
ume which  is  not  only  profitable  for  the  life  that  now  is,  but 
which,  to  borrow  its  own  forcible  language,  makes  man  "wise 
unto  salvation."  "What  other  book  possesses  the  same  unrivalled 
claims  to  attention  ?  To  what  other  source  shall  we  go  to  learn 
the  origin  and  destiny  of  our  race ;  its  history  before  the  flood, 
and  for  many  centuries  after;  the  fact  of  the  deluge,  and  the 
physical  phenomena  which  it  has  impressed  upon  our  globe  ;  the 
multiplicity  of  tongues,  and  innumerable  other  important  matters, 
which  are  satisfactorily  accounted  for  nowhere  else  ? 

Most  cheerfully,  as  a  man  and  a  magistrate,  while  life  and 
breath  endure,  and  until  my  voice  is  hushed,  and  my  pen  para- 
lyzed in  death,  will  I  bear  my  humble  testimony  "  to  the  value  of 
the  Bible."  Had  I  the  wealth  of  the  world,  and  there  was  but 
one  copy  of  the  Scriptures  extant,  and  that  was  hid  away  in  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  I  would  gladly  dispose  of  all  my 
treasure,  and  traverse  sea  and  land  to  possess  myself  of  this 
pearl  of  great  price. 

It  is  to  this  Blessed  Volume  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  gen- 
eral temperance,  industry,  and  contentment  of  the  teeming  mil- 
lions of  this  happy  and  highly  favoured  country  ;  for  the  churches, 
hospitals,  and  asylums,  and  countless  benevolent  institutions 
which  adorn  every  city,  town,  and  village,  and  rural  landscape 
in  this  glorious  confederacy.  For  it,  our  fathers — ever  blessed  be 
their  memory — forsook  the  land  of  their  nativity,  and  fled  to  this 
western  wilderness.     They  made   it  the   man  of  their  counsel 


To  THE  Value  of  the  Scriptures.        61 

while  living,  built  upon  it  as  the  foundation  of  all  their  social  and 
civil  freedom,  and  bequeathed  it  as  a  rich  legacy  to  their  posterity 

Thank  God  for  having,  in  his  great  mercy,  organized  this  as  a 
Christian  nation.  The  Bible  is  necessary  to  man.  It  is  the  sum, 
and  sun,  and  soul  of  his  felicity.  Tell  me  not  of  the  physical 
improvements,  the  intellectual  attainments  of  this  wonderful 
age.  Conscience  must  be  convinced,  enlightened,  quickened ; 
the  lightning  of  the  passions  bridled  and  restrained ;  and  the  Bible 
is  the  only  book  which  has  arrayed  vividly  before  the  mind  the 
retributions  of  eternity,  which  has  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light. 

Banish  the  Bible  from  the  land,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing, 
succeed  in  loosing  its  hold  on  the  public  mind,  and  my  word 
for  it,  the  experiment  of  self-government  will  prove  a  failure. 
The  reign  of  fear  and  force,  which  characterizes  the  despotisms 
of  the  Old  World,  will  be  reared  upon  the  ruins  of  our  fair  Repub- 
lic. There  can  be  no  stability  'u^  government,  where  infidelity 
predominates.  If  a  people  sow  to  the  wind,  they  can  reap  noth- 
ing but  the  whirlwind.  Let  the  day  come  when  our  rulers  and 
people  shall  cease  to  reverence  the  Bible  and  its  ordinances,  and 
the  press  shall  lend  its  influence  to  sap  the  foundations  of  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Bible,  and  Ichabod  will  be  inscribed  on  tlie  proud 
dome  of  our  Capitol.  For  truly  our  greatness  and  glory  will 
have  departed.  Ignore  Christianity,  and  what  security  will  be 
left  for  life,  liberty,  or  property?  We  boast  of  our  written  con- 
stitutions ;  and  well  we  may  :  they  constitute  the  eighth  wonder  of 
the  world.  They  are  the  imperishable  monuments  of  the  justice, 
wisdom,  and  moderation  of  our  sages  and  sires.  But  strike  from 
beneath  them  the  props  on  which  they  rest — the  retributions  of 
the  Bible,  the  Christian's  heaven,  and  the  Christian's  hell — and 
freedom  of  conscience,  and  of  debate,  and  of  the  press,  with  every 
other  rampart  of  our  liberty,  will  totter  and  tumble  to  the  ground  ; 
and  in  their  stead  will  be  substituted  the  torture,  and  tyrarmy,  and 
all  the  other  insignia  of  barbarism,  which  disgrace  the  darker  ages. 

Socrates  and  Seneca  taught  the  people  to  be  honest  and  just, 
virtuous  and  benevolent ;  yet,  contemplate  the  morality  of  pagan 
Greece  and  Rome,  as  delineated  by  the  pencil  of  inspiratiooj. 
Full  of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity,  proud,  boastful, 
disobedient  to  parents,  covenant-breakers,  without  natural  affec- 


62  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen 

tion,  implacable,  unmerciful.  AYhat  a  practical  commentary 
upon  the  wisdom  of  this  world!  Human  systems  are  utterly 
powerless  to  reform  the  life,  awaken  and  purify  the  conscience, 
and  impart  vitality,  power,  and  constancy  to  principle.  G-ive 
me  the  Bible,  which,  while  it  dispels  the  darkness  of  the  mind, 
warms  and  softens  the  moral  winter  of  the  heart ;  which  sees  G-od 
and  his  providence,  and  his  manifold  wisdom,  above,  beneath, 
within,  and  around  ;  which  teaches  the  doctrine  of  man's  fall  and 
depravity,  and  reveals  the  plan  of  his  recovery ;  which  opens  up 
a  way  through  the  second  Adam,  the  Lord  from  heaven,  to  a 
Paradise  for  the  posterity  of  the  firsts  where  the  serpent  shall  no 
more  deceive,  and  where  the  forbidden  fruit  shall  never  enchant. 
Look  to  modern  Europe,  and  what  a  spectacle  does  it  exhibit! 
Revolution  following  revolution,  like  the  successive  waves  of  the 
sea,  and  all  ending  in  fastening  the  fetters  of  arbitrary  power 
firmer  than  ever  upon  the  down- trodden  people.  Kossuth  and 
his  coadjutors  may  preach  u^  crusade,  like  another  Peter  the 
Hermit,  against  the  despots  of  the  Old  World— popular  govern- 
ment can  never  be  permanently  maintained  on  the  Continent, 
until  the  Bible  becomes  a  household  book  in  every  family. 

Let  the  patriot  and  the  philanthropist  unite,  then,  in  scatter- 
ing the  Bible  broadcast  throughout  this  and  every  other  land, 
breathing,  as  it  does,  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to  man : 
teach  the  people  to  submit  cheerfully  to  the  government  of  their 
choice  ;  instructing  rulers,  that  they  are  to  be  ministers  for  good  ; 
reasoning  before  the  judge  upon  the  bench,  of  righteousness, 
temperance,  and  judgment  to  come ;  saying  authoritatively  to 
masters,  be  just  to  your  servants,  knowing  that  you  have  a  Mas- 
ter in  heaven;  and  to  servants,  obey  your  masters  in  the  flesh. 
Let  this  be  done,  and  soon  this  sin-disordered  habitation  of  ours 
will  be  renovated,  and  converted  into  a  scene  of  surpassing  beauty 
and  loveliness.  Again  it  will  stand  out  before  the  ravished  eyes 
of  the  spectator,  as  it  did  at  first,  when 

"  Awaking  nature  heard 
The  new-creating  Avord,  and  started  to  life. 
In  every  heightened  form 
This  finished  fabric  rose." 

Please  accept  the  assurance  of  the  high  respect,  with  which 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours  truly, 

Jos.  Henry  Lumpkin. 


To    THE   Value    of    the    Scriptures.  63 

PROFESSOR  SILLIMAN,  Senior. 

New  Haven,  December  10,  1S53. 

Dear  Sir  : — In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  am  ready  to 
give  my  opinion  as  to  the  ''  influence  of  the  Bible  on  civil  and 
social  life,  and  as  to  its  harmony  with  geology." 

It  is  the  grand  charter  of  man's  political  and  civil  equality, 
liberty,  and  order.  It  is  the  guardian  and  the  only  adequate  pro- 
tector of  his  social  happiness. 

Should  the  human  race  ever  come  fully  under  its  influence, 
both  national  wars  and  personal  dissensions  would  cease,  and  this 
world  would  become  a  terrestrial  paradise. 

The  relation  of  geology  as  well  as  astronomy  to  the  Bible,  ivhen 
both  are  well  understood^  is  that  of  perfect  harmony.  The  Bible 
no  where  limits  the  age  of  our  globe,  while  its  chronology  assigns 
a  recent  origin  to  the  human  race ;  and  geology  not  only  confirms 
the  truth  of  the  history  of  man,  but  it  affords  decisive  evidence 
that  the  Genesis  presents  a  true  statement  of  the  progress  of  the 
terrestrial  arrangements,  and  of  this  introduction  of  living  beings 
in  the  order  in  w^hich  their  fossil  remains  are  found  entombed  in 
the  strata.  The  Word  and  the  works  of  God  cannot  be  in  conflict, 
and  the  more  they  are  studied,  the  more  perfect  will  their  har- 
mony appear.     I  remain,  dear  sir. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

B.  SiLLiMAN,  Senior. 


EX-CHANCELLOR  WALWORTH. 

Saratoga  Springs,  December  IT,  1853. 

To  those  who  have  carefully  observed  or  considered  the  prog- 
ress of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  at  diflerent  times  and  in  va- 
rious countries,  it  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  say,  it  has  always 
been  the  most  rapid,  as  well  as  the  most  healthy,  where  the 
Bible  was  most  widely  disseminated ;  and  where  the  sacred 
truths  contained  therein  were  brought  home  to  the  greatest  num- 
bers of  the  people.  Indeed,  there  is  no  nation,  although  nominally 
civilized  and  Christianized,  which  has  made  any  very  great  ad- 
vancement in  the  amelioration  and.  improvement  of  the  social 
condition  of  the  masses,  except  those  nations  where  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  were  in  the  hands  of,  and  studied  by  the  people  gen- 
erally.    For  it  is  in  the  Bible  alone  that  man  is  fully  instructed 


64  Testimony    of    Distinguished    Laymen,    &c. 

in  all  the  great  duties  he  owes  to  his  fellow-men,  as  well  as  in 
those  duties  that  he  owes  to  himself  and  to  his  Creator. 

In  the  Bible,  man  is  instructed  in  that  general  civilization, 
which  consists  in  subduing  and  controlling  his  passions,  cultiva- 
ting the  social  virtues,  and  in  regarding  the  rights  of  others  as 
commensurate  with  his  own.  No  where  else  does  he  find  that 
great  precept  of  true  Christian  charity  and  benevolence,  to  do 
unto  others  as  he  would  wish  them  to  do  unto  him  in  like  cir- 
cumstances, urged  upon  his  attention  as  a  binding  duty.  To 
the  mind  of  a  mere  worldly  moralist,  indeed,  this  duty  may  have 
suggested  itself,  but  as  one  of  imperfect  obligation.  In  the  Bible 
alone,  however,  do  we  learn,  that  the  practice  of  benevolence, 
and  the  love  of  our  fellow-men,  are  perfect  and  indispensable 
Christian  duties.  Here  we  are  enjoined  "•  to  do  justly  and  to 
love  mercy." 

The  statesman,  the  scholar,  and  even  the  politician,  as  well  as 
the  philanthropist  and  the  Christian,  by  a  careful  and  diligent 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  will  find  himself  a  much  wiser,  if  not  a 
much  better  man,  and  will  also  be  able  to  discharge  his  social 
and  political  duties,  or  to  pursue  the  rugged  paths  of  Science,  with 
more  credit  to  himself,  and  more  benefit  to  his  country  and  his 
kind,  than  if  he  had  confined  his  investigations  to  mere  worldly 
wisdom.  In  the  language  of  another,  I  may  say,  "  what  a  bless- 
ing it  is  to  beings  of  such  limited  capacities  as  ours  confessedly 
are,  to  have  G-od  himself  for  our  instructor  in  every  thing  which 
it  much  concerns  us  to  know."  And  we  cannot  be  sufficiently 
thankful  to  him  for  having  revealed  his  existence  to  us,  and  dis- 
closed to  us  something  of  his  attributes  ;  especially  that  attribute 
of  mercy  which  sent  our  Divine  Redeemer  upon  his  mission  of 
love  to  the  apostate  race  of  man. 

I  hope  and  trust,  therefore,  that  this  Holy  Book,  which  exceeds 
all  others  "  in  the  weight  of  its  authority,  and  the  extent  of  its 
utility ;"  which  has  successfully  withstood  the  blasphemous  sar- 
casms of  a  Paine,  and  the  more  refined  wit  of  a  Yoltaire,  as  well 
as  the  attacks  of  a  host  of  others,  many  of  whom,  probably,  have 
seldom  examined  its  sacred  pages,  will  soon  be  found  and  studied  in 
all  the  cottages  of  the  poor,  as  well  as  in  the  habitations  of  the  more 
wealthy,  not  only  in  our  own  country,  but  throughout  the  world. 

R.  H.  Walworth. 


PAMPHLET  BINOER 

:^i:    Syracuse,  N.   Y. 
Stockton,  Calif. 


m.  yif- 


Testimony  of  distinguished  laymen  to  the  ! 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library  i 


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